A Tendency to Tangle

Tumblr of writer, poet, musician Emily Randolph-Epstein (she/her).

[atendencytotangle]

You can find a list of my published short stories here:

Fiction

Published Short Fiction: “So, How Was Work” – Habitats Magazine Volume 1, 2023 ORDER “Three-Piece String Assassination” – The Colored Lens i

Poetry:

Poetry

Published Poetry: “Ordinary” – Eye to the Telescope Issue 46, October 2022 READ

[atendencytotangle]

Getting Older

Existential Birthday Dread Today’s my birthday. It’s not a big one, just another year around the sun. I’m not in a big birthday mood. I’m not having a party or doing much at all beyond spending some time with friends. It’s honestly hard to celebrate myself given everything I’m seeing on the news about my home country (to make it perfectly clear: I do not support the current administration and…

Getting Older

[luna-azzurra]

Tips for Writing Injuries

✧ Broken ribs suck. You don’t just “walk it off.” Breathing hurts. Laughing hurts. Existing hurts. Characters with rib injuries won’t be doing heroic sprints.

✧ Concussions aren’t instant naps. Dazed vision, nausea, dizziness, maybe even personality changes, but they’re not going to collapse neatly like in the movies.

✧ Blood loss is sneaky. It’s not just about dramatic pools of blood. It’s dizziness, confusion, and the body getting cold as circulation tanks.

✧ Adrenaline lies. Someone can take a serious injury and not feel it until the fight’s over. That “I didn’t realize I was bleeding until later” trope? Very real.

✧ Twisted ankles are brutal. One bad step and suddenly running is off the table. Even walking hurts like hell. Perfect way to ground a chase scene.

✧ Burns linger. Even small burns hurt more than most people expect. Blisters, infection risk, constant pain, it’s not just a cool scar later.

✧ Dislocated shoulders = useless arm. Characters can’t keep swinging a sword or firing a gun. They’re basically fighting one-armed until it’s fixed.

✧ Shock is a thing. Pale skin, trembling, rapid heartbeat, and eventually disorientation. A character might not even realize how bad their wound is.

✧ Stitches aren’t magic. Getting sewn up is painful and recovery takes time. They’re not instantly battle-ready after a needle and thread.

✧ Scars tell stories. Some fade, some don’t. Some stay sensitive forever. Don’t forget the aftermath when the wound becomes part of the character.

[calliopechild]

We all like to think we can handle change gracefully, and then someone rearranges our grocery store.

[octavio-world]

reblog to survive

[subluxurious]

For anyone disabled or with dietary restrictions impacted by SNAP, this is a link to a mutual aid assistance fund prioritizing those who cannot access food banks because of disability or food allergies.

[maryrobinette]

My Favorite Bit: D.M. Beucler talks about MEMORY AND MAGIC

D.M. Beucler is joining us today to talk about her novel, Memory and Magic. Here’s the publisher’s description: Tamsin learned caution the hard way, spending a year in the king’s jail under suspicion of using illegal blood magic. Now she’s scrounging a living as a laundress in the Narrows, the poorest ring of the three walled capital city. When Tamsin’s smuggler friend brings a badly beaten…

My Favorite Bit: D.M. Beucler talks about MEMORY AND MAGIC

[thepromiscuousfinger]

[chaifootsteps]

#Please little bird

[meriwetherwrites]

I love that the modern-day tumblr post equivalent of chain emails only requires me to reblog a relatively pleasant image instead of forward an email to a bunch of my friends and family members to quell my raging anxiety.

[thebreakfastgenie]

Kids are going to die because of this. A lot more are going to suffer. Some will be permanently disabled. They’ll be at risk of shingles later in life. All completely fucking avoidable.

[sprinkledsalt]

So where's the "both sides are the same so voting is pointless" crowd? Do we have any comment from them on why this is only happening under Trump/RFK Jr., or are they too busy pretending this isn't happening because they can't face what they did?

[unfuckablebogtroll]

[goqmir]

setting up a tiny detail in one chapter to pay it off in the next few chapters feels sooo devious like oooh i can't wait to write the small little reference here that 70% of readers will miss but 30% of readers will cheer for

[dialupmodern]

it feels so good loading the gun when you're Chekhov

[scumrunner]

This happened on my dash

[thepromiscuousfinger]

[chaifootsteps]

#Please little bird

[meriwetherwrites]

I love that the modern-day tumblr post equivalent of chain emails only requires me to reblog a relatively pleasant image instead of forward an email to a bunch of my friends and family members to quell my raging anxiety.

[apollos-boyfriend]

little kids are so fucking funny man. had a kid that couldn’t be any older than like 8 or so come up to me today asking where our dinosaur books where, and when i tried to gently redirect them downstairs (where our kids section is) they very matter-of-fairly informed me that they’d already read every book down there and are ready to learn about the “secret, grown-up only dinosaurs” now

[c-o-u-g-a-r]

Beautiful gorgeous creature of the day is a friendly squid

[raccoonpicnic]

So, listen, I'm not usually the "did a squid write this" guy, but this article is about how these massive predators aren't dangerous and also aren't very nutritious, so I really gotta wonder about this one

[the-actual-ocean]

Ocean announcement:

dont worry about it

[cuprohastes]

Squid is made for hugging. Let squid hug baby, tentacled good for hug baby…

[jmtorres]

look the thing is. yeah the giant predators are kinda mellow there's not much they're afraid of because not much can take them.

what you gotta be worried about is if we find a school-bus sized herbivore down there. herbivores are high strung to protect themselves. they know they're potential prey so they're always on guard and often naturally armed. this is why we do not fuck with buffalo and the like.

you don't have to run to "did the squid write this" when it's describing common behavior patterns we see across the animal kingdom.

[atendencytotangle]

I've been thinking a lot about the paradox of tolerance quite a bit over the last few days. For *reasons*

[unsolids-your-snake]

I'm starting to go the opposite direction of all the "you're a literal baby infant until 25 bc your bwain is a baby bwain :(" shit

We should be treating teens as more adult than we do. I don't mean some lowering the age of consent creep shit, I mean presuming competence. Get a job, learn life skills, learn to cook, be fully responsible for a pet, walk places alone (in daylight) or with a friend, have intergenerational friendships, teach skills to littler kids, be someone people can trust with more than wiping their own ass. Be someone they themselves can trust to do stuff and go places. We're stealing children's confidence by treating them like they can't do anything. Treat them like they can and should do many adult things and more will find the confidence to practice at them.

Yes, the brain isn't finished growing when you're like 15. No, you shouldn't get treated like a preschooler till it is. The general experience of adulthood is like 90% practice 10% maturity I think. The maturity is needed but it doesn't account for much if you just do nothing.

[maximumsalt]

YES. And with support! Teach your teens to make their own doctors appointments by sitting by them in case something comes up they don't know the answer to. Show your elementary schoolers how to cook a meal. Teach them how to read a map and guide you where they want to go. Kids are capable.

[kla1991]

Your brain develops when you fucking use it, so let teens use their brains!

[moniquill]

Everything here except 'get a job' because education is already a full-time job.

I say this as a person who did labor for money as a child and teenager and should not have had to.

[dduane]

And especially: *teach your kids, however small, what they can do in emergencies." That learning (because you trusted them with it as important) will sink deep into their brains and help them cope for the rest of their lives. They will know, from tiny times, what coping looks like. It'll lead them toward strengths they never knew they had.

When I was still nursing in NY and occasionally helped out our colleagues in ER, several times I saw small children who'd been taught what to do save their whole families from burning buildings by having been coached in how to use the phone to call for help and say what the trouble was, even when their parents and other older kids were unresponsive.

Teach your kids to rely on themselves, even when "people who'll tell them what to do if they're not sure" are unavailable. ...Because they may not always be available.

[dozydawn]

[southcarolinagoddess]

I adore Lover's Eye pieces!

[sartorialadventure]

Eye miniatures, also known as lover’s eyes, cropped up across Britain around 1785 and were en vogue for shorter than half a century. As with the royal couple, most were commissioned as gifts expressing devotion between loved ones. Some, too, were painted in memory of the deceased. All were intimate and exceedingly precious: eyes painted on bits of ivory no bigger than a pinky nail, then set inside ruby-garlanded brooches, pearl-encrusted rings, or ornate golden charms meant to be tucked into pockets, or pinned close to the heart.

Eye miniatures materialized in this environment, where even the subtlest glance could convey lust, love, surveillance, or a heady mix of all three. It’s no wonder, then, that an expression of devotion would come bearing a gazing eye. (source)