here be dragons

Picture me with my ground teeth stalking joy—fully armed too as it’s a highly dangerous quest. -Flannery O’Connor

[popsunner]

You know what the second I stopped saying “I wish I had a friend who-“ and started being “the friend who-“ my life has gotten 100% more fulfilling

[popsunner]

No legitimately. I have a tea table in my room for when friends can come over again. Most of my friends have a key to the back door in my room. I make my friends sweaters and buy things they mention they want. I send handwritten letters in the mail to my friend who lives a block away. I annotate poetry books and give them as gifts when it’s not even a holiday. I keep extra gloves in my purse and jackets in my car.

I’m not trying to be like “ohoho look at me I’m such a good friend”, I’m saying the second I stopped going “I wish I had friends who would invite me to tea parties” and just. hosted the tea parties myself? I still got to do the thing. I still got to see my friends. I still got to be happy with them.

I don’t think it’s about who does it, I think it’s just the genuine act of caring for people, and giving a little light to the environments you’re in.

[popsunner]

Okay. Apparently I’m not done talking about this.

It’s a lot of energy, I get that. Especially if you’re putting in all this effort, but not getting any back.

But I think that’s the reason no one does it. I mean we’re so worried we’ll start doing all these things and our friends won’t like it or won’t be into it, so we just don’t.

Only last week my friend messaged me, asking if I wanted to go stargazing with her. When I forget about our weekly virtual tea party, another friend called me to ask if I wanted them to host it this week.

I’ve been invited on hikes and picnics and pie making competitions over zoom, and it all sort of started with me going out of my way to be “that friend”.

I genuinely believe that the easiest answer to “how do I get friends like that?” Is to be one. In most cases, everyone else just follows by example, because they aren’t worried they’ll be wasting time and energy anymore.

[reallyreallyreallytrying]

people will be like "i'm bored" meanwhile there's baking soda and vinegar in the cupboard. make a volcano dude

[thestuffedalligator]

I have the baseless headcanon that Mary Poppins is Maleficent.

Maleficent reforms sometime in the fourteenth century, greatly reduced. She wanders the countryside in the shape of a harridan, another bogeyman to warn children of.

The peasantry - who remember Maleficent as the fey who inexplicably sent her minions to inspect every cradle in the kingdom - think that she is another of these goblins.

They call her La Mauvaise Paysanne.

***

She arrives in England in the eighteenth century on the back of a fairy tale.

Fairies take the shape of the stories told about them. The myth has changed, and so has she. She takes the shape of an enchantress, the punisher of naughty children, the rewarder of the good.

The English people call her the Merry Peasant.

***

By the nineteenth century, the edges of her myth have been sanded off entirely. She’s known as a fairy godmother who blesses good children.

She doesn’t mind this, but when she gets the chance to reshape her wand, she gives it a crow’s head in memory of her old familiar.

They’ve started calling her Mary Pauper.

***

By the twentieth century, Mary Poppins is more powerful than she’s been in centuries.

She’s also changed completely. She understands this to her core, and mostly she’s fine with it.

She misses it every now and then, of course. The palace, the minions, the mistress of all evil. She sniffs and says these are are ridiculous thoughts, but she thinks them nevertheless.

This is partly why she enjoys being a nanny. It’s a good compromise. She can be strict but fair with her charges, and every now and then she meets a particularly incorrigible parent who she can curse into oblivion.

[gailyinthedark]

unpopular opinion: sudden outsize, visible emotions about something during PMS doesn't mean it's not a real issue? sometimes people are good at coping with internal distress for twenty-three days and not for the other five. doesn't mean the distress wasn't there before

[cryptotheism]

I bet gargoyles have like, maybe 2 pounds of edible meat on them max. And the meat isn't that good it's like a a gritty oyster.

[marcvscicero]

heliodorus is very cute :)

[no-ones-stupid-gallery]

Unknown Artist - The Five Senses: Hearing, From The Lady and the Unicorn Series, c. 1500, France. Tapestry. Wool and Silk. 466 cm x 377 cm.

[morningsaidthemoon]

Tag! You're It! - My 2nd year film :D

[amuseoffyre]

One of my favourite photos from my trip to Warsaw in 2006

[aleshakills]

At some point in your life, you were taught that being slightly annoying is an unforgivable sin. Maybe it was by your parents or a teacher or a friend or a bully or an older sibling. But someone taught you that being slightly annoying is a crime punishable by death.

You must unlearn this.

You must accept that all people will be annoying at some point or another in their lives, maybe all of their lives, and that this is okay. It is okay for strangers on the bus, it is okay for children in the grocery store, it is okay for people on social media, and it is okay for you.

If you ever want to truly love your fellow humans, if you ever want to truly love yourself, you must have forgiveness for being annoying.

[beemovieerotica]

someone on reddit shared texts of her and her husband's exclusive english dialect and it's beautiful

[beemovieerotica]

a linguist is analyzing it

[youngerfrankenstein]

To put it very bluntly.

You will always make a better impact helping people who need it than trying to hurt people you think deserve it.

[wildestlovers]

embarrassment is the cost of entry.

if you aren't willing to look like a foolish beginner, you'll never become a graceful master.

[pangur-and-grim]

getting rocks thrown at you until you die is just part of the process. you can walk it off

[the-mossuary]

everything is so much. we need less more and more less.

[medievalsquire]

everyone keeps saying "the old king would've known what to do" which makes me think the current king absolutely does not

[systlin]

So what ARE your opinions on field vs water retting? I’m gonna farm some fiber this year

Water retting makes flax a beautiful golden color, but field retting is easier to keep an eye on.

ALSO, I've come to the conclusion that Tolkein's Teleri elves did field retting for the sails of the swan ships, because field retting leaves the flax a beautiful silvery gray, and while all flax will eventually bleach to white with washing in lye and sun the sails are supposed to be pale and the silver would suit the aesthetic better than the golden color you get from water retting. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[magenkeshet]

Oh you’re SO right about that. Now I’m thinking about elven textile manufacturing….

[systlin]

Welcome to our super niche nerd Tolkien Elves Textile Work Fan Club. Me and @batsintheshadows are founding members. We both have Opinions about linen and nettle fiber.

[magenkeshet]

Oh my Gd I need so much help with nettle fiber. I just have not nailed the processing for it the times I’ve tried

[systlin]

Still working at figuring this out myself. Last year when I tried I retted most of it too long and it fell apart 😔

[triplehcubed]

Hello please allow me to Kool-Aid Man in here (OH YEAH!). Where did you find resources about processing nettle? I've been using stuff about linen and just hoping it kind of transfers over. Which might be what you both are also doing, now that I think about it

[systlin]

I DIDN'T I tried to process it the same way I processed a small handful of flax and learned via the 'error' part of the trial and error method!

[systlin]

VITAL BREAKTHROUGHS MADE BY NERDS (FOND) ON MY DISCORD

[kosmogrl]

I’m wrestling feelings you’ve never even heard of