Per ermina ad astra

[copperbadge]

"His grace, his excellency, the Duke of Ankh, Commander Sir Samuel Vimes," the herald called.

King Gregory III, by birthright prince and election king of Askazer-Shivadlakia, bowed as low as his husband (King Theophile "Eddie" Rambler, dux a l'orange) had ever seen. He followed Greg's example, and heard a sardonic snort from the duke.

"If you don't stand up this minute, your majesty, I'll give you a walloping you haven't earned since the puffin incident," Sir Samuel said. He was a tough, weatherbeaten-looking man in a helmet, armor, leather trousers, and scuffed boots. Gregory laughed, straightened, and embraced the strange foreign duke in a hug.

"It's always a delight, Sam," Greg said. "My husband, by the way. King Theophile for formal occasions, but Eddie when he's at home."

"Eddie," Sir Samuel echoed. His handshake was strong, but not weirdly so.

"Sam's one of Dad's best friends. He keeps us out of trouble with Ankh-Morpork and he hates the monarchy with unbridled passion," Greg continued.

"Can I confess I've never heard of Ankh-Morpork?" Eddie said cautiously.

"Few have," Sir Samuel said with a grin. "Just as well. I don't hate you, Greg. You're elected. That's the proper way to go about things. Don't love that crown of yours though."

"It's decorative," Gregory said defensively.

"See that it stays that way. Where is the old bastard emeritus anyhow?" Sam asked.

"SIR SAMUEL!" came a shout across the ballroom, and Michaelis charged forward, meeting the duke in a hug.

"Retired, eh? Cowardly move," Sir Samuel said. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"Vetinari won the bet," Michaelis said cryptically. Eddie watched in fascination. "It's all right. The youngsters can have some fun for now."

"Fun, you call it," Sir Samuel replied, as Michaelis led him away.

"Come meet my grandchildren. How's Young Sam?" Michaelis asked, as their voices faded into the crowd at the ball.

"Sir Samuel is the worst diplomat who ever got the job," Gregory said to Eddie. "He's probably Dad's favorite politician in the world."

"He seems...." Eddie groped for words.

"He sure does," Gregory agreed. "But...he's important, Ed. He helped raise me. Everyone here -- me, Ger, Al...even Dad I think...we are who we are because of him. He believes in people and in the stupidity of people. He loves democracy. He understands imperfection."

"Sounds like a solid dude, as my parents would say," Eddie observed.

"None more solid," Gregory agreed, as the commander lifted Serafina out of Alanna's arm and tossed her up, catching her a second later. The lilacs in the palace garden, lightly disturbed by the movement, swayed back and forth, releasing their scent.

"Who's that Vetinari guy?" Eddie asked, as the party went on around them. Near the doorway to the palace, a man took a broad-brimmed hat from the rack and doffed it to Gregory before slipping away. Simon, nearby, continued to mix banana daiquiris for the waiting diplomats.

"Oh, you are in no way ready for Vetinari yet," Gregory assured him. "Come along. Time you met Lady Sybil."

[dark-hell-princess-tamamolandia]

"I am the Sword of God" is like easily top 10 things to declare immediately before doing something really stupid that will probably injure you

[mrsterlingeverything]

It is thursday morning. Visualize yourself as the marble, the chisel, and the untrained sculpter who just tried methamphetamine

[kamikkyu]

this is how i feel when ppl say genshin has diverse body types sorry

[uhuh100]

[peoplegettingkindamadatfood]

[crtter]

This pizza was made over here in Brazil and I’m happy to inform everyone that the method they used to get the toppings over the whole dough evenly is just slightly less funny than what the last poster in the thread suggested:

They hovered a guy over it using a crane and maneuvered him around by pushing him with a pole.

[starbitten13]

[chronicallybubbly]

Why are chronic illnesses always buy one get four free? I didn’t want the first one to start with let alone a handful more?!? 😂😭

[earhartsease]

because misery loves company

[fieldtomatoes]

he would do numbers on here

[fieldtomatoes]

this is back in my notes and I love the number of people in the rbs who think that by “here” I meant “tumblr” and that ofc abed would do numbers bc he’s autistic and gay and into various tv shows but what EYE meant by “here” was “mashblr”, specifically “the corner of mashblr where we understand that the CBS war dramedy M*A*S*H (1972-1983) exists in a timeloop”

[ouidamforeman]

my hot take on the fantasy genre is that it's not inherently bad to do a medieval europe based fantasy world or really any european inspired fantasy world, in fact i like that stuff and think it can be very cool and while yeah definitely diversify the historical cultures the genre bases fantasy worlds on, that's always good and having european culture be the default for everything ever is bad, the problem here i never see anyone talk about is that people keep somehow making medieval and early modern europe boring as fuck and not understanding anything about it

[heimeldat]

yessssss! Please can we have actual medieval fantasy instead of vaguely renaissance with modern flair? Can we have a bunch of randos traveling together to avoid dragon attacks on their pilgrimage to see the gold-plated skull of a famous paladin who died calling down fire from heaven on the pagan hordes? Have a guy in the marketplace selling penis and vulva charms guaranteed to protect you on your way to bathe in the sacred sulfur springs? Some lads hanging out carving promise spoons for their lady friends and talking about those weird foreigners who keep insisting "nothing" is a number? A female character who serves as a castle chatelaine and spends her time keeping account books and overseeing storage and organization? Merchant caravans traveling the Spice Road and avoiding phoenixes and giant ants along the way? A princess spending an entire year working with her ladies in the solar to sew and embroider that special gown for her wedding? Strangers sharing a bed at the inn, ladies in waiting sharing a bed with their queen (or sleeping on the trundle bed beside her), entire families sharing a bed in their little thatched house, because yes there often was only one bed? Collective cultural obsession with the proper order of all things and the natural hierarchy built into the world from the lowest insect to the divinely appointed king, with heated scholarly debates about where magic-users fit into this scheme? Widespread excitement about the invention of a new type of plow and how this will completely change farming techniques? Multiple generations working to complete a hundred-year building project? Constant arguing and politicking and back-stabbing and boot-licking between the church and the state? The philosophical joy of knowing your rightful place in the grand spinning harmony of the cosmos? The apothecaries and alchemists taking the first awkward steps into developing the scientific method? The all-pervasiveness of song and worship and moral debate?

Also for the love of God hide your characters' hair! There are a million incredible, ludicrous, delightful types of medieval headgear. Loose flowing locks are out of the question please.

[sainamoonshine]

All this, and also:

Put some fucking respect on the textile arts

[imsobadatnicknames2]

One of the reasons why I'm so annoying about the "why does this otherwise medieval europe-inspired setting have potatoes as a staple crop" is not only for the reasons I've talked about before wrt authors treating things that europe obtained through colonialism as universal timeless constants that have always been part of their cuisine, but also because like. medieval european culture is inherently linked to the material conditions of the feudal mode of production, and the introduction of potatoes as a crop to europe was such a game-changer for agriculture that like. I'm completely sure that, in a world where medieval europe had access to potatoes, feudalism (and consequently the entirety of medieval european culture) would have developed in a radically different way. So when someone inserts potatoes into their medieval-inspired world without any speculation about how this would alter these conditions it betrays a complete refusal to interrogate why things are the way they are from authors who usually claim to pride themselves in their in-depth worldbuilding.

[beemovieerotica]

please say sike

[hilaritatis]

Depending on your reading speed and free time it's not infeasible to read 30+ (new) books a year, but really, people, perhaps prioritise reading a few things well rather than many things badly.

I'm not the boss of you. It's always fine to skim some passages if they're not to your taste or are triggering. But if you are skipping like massive chunks of the book? Maybe find something else to read that's more your scene, because you're sure as hell not experiencing the same book as the rest of us. Short stories exist. Poems exist. If you want to just read dialogue, plays exist. If you're skimming description because it's boring, maybe look for a genre or even a particular book that has a setting that appeals to you, where the description will be less boring. You don't have to read romance, or sf, or detective novels or whatever just because everyone else is. You can read whatever you want. And you can give up on a book - it's not like school, where you run the risk of failing the exam if you stop reading it before the end. Try reading a weirder book - if you've read a bunch of high school romances, maybe read something set somewhere completely different, where there isn't a very generic set up of jocks vs nerds, a prom, etc.

[ftmtftm]

Sometimes I really want to take everyone under the age of 24 (as of 2026) by the shoulders and say:

"I'm really sorry that lockdown and the ongoing pandemic interrupted pivotal educational and social/emotional development moments for you. You have an uphill battle towards adjusting to a lot of community based efforts because you experienced a mass trauma during an incredibly important time in your life where you should have physically been around your peers learning to engage in shared community. There is no "but" here, I'm genuinely really sorry. Something many of us consider key points in our interpersonal growth as youths was taken from you, not without reason but without care for its impact on you. I hope you know we are eternally allies in our struggles and if that is something you struggle to know I hope you can learn it someday."

Because so many of the angriest, most disenfranchised people I see on this website are under 24 and I often try to put younger people's behavior in the context of where they might have been 2020. I've seen the impact on my siblings and their peers+friends first hand, all ages 18-24. We've talked about how its impacted them, the isolation, the attachment to the internet, the anxieties and phobias and fears it developed in them due to the pandemic, the political unrest, and the responses to both that we've seen since. I know they're not the only ones and I know how much being marginalized also influences that impact too.

It's terrifying. I know it must be terrifying for a lot of the young people on Tumblr too. I hope one day we're able to bridge all of those complex feelings into something collective and positive so we can do our best to prevent similar traumas from happening to future generations.

[janusisasnakeyboi]

I'm 24, class of 2020. I don't think it's a coincidence that so many of us are openly identifying as disabled, either. I am about the age that autoimmune diseases, schizospec disorders, and mental health disorders relating to childhood trauma usually get diagnosed. Except now there was and still is a mass-disabling, mass-killing virus that sucks to experience, can entirely wipe your immune system, plus the chaos of living, stressed, worried about if your family will financially make it through, worried if people you care about will die, and trying to navigate "normal" stressors like "where will I go to college" when nobody really knows what "college" might even look like.

And if you were being abused, congratulations, you are now stuck inside with them regardless. Graduating in 2020 was a boon for me in that regard, because nobody could reasonably expect me to return home. But the people younger than me?

lt is a wonder any of us are well.

[important-animal-images]

[moniquill]

'Borrowing the Tiger's Majesty' by Yuzu Kato

[infestuous]

Wally Dion, Green Star Quilt, 2019 circuit boards, brass wire, copper tube

[chekhovs-raygun]

I SAW THIS IN THE PORTLAND ART MUSEUM! ITS HUGE!

it shimmers like no gemstones i've ever seen: green as malachite and emerald but shot through with opal, gold, copper. photographs can't do it justice because of how it shines, as well as the way the actual material elements have their own dimensions. you can lean in and study all the fine lines of the circuits or step back and admire how the rearranged whole forms new patterns. it's one of the most beautiful creations i've ever seen.

[dogspouse]

idk man just. stop forgetting trans people who desperately want and need lower surgery exist.

stop forgetting there are trans women who long for vaginoplasty while understanding you dont need a vagina to be a woman, and stop forgetting there are trans men who long for phalloplasty while understanding you don't need a penis to be a man

[bereft-of-form]

and stop forgetting there are nonbinary people who long for bottom surgery while understanding that you can be any gender with any genital configuration

[dogspouse]

no, addition is much appreciated, after this post started to get notes i regretted my phrasing and that i'd made it sound so binary 💜

[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.

[readingreddingread]

The amount of time they have to master stuff no arthritis or aging eyes their lace craft is probably sickenly good.

[systlin]

THAT'S WHAT WE'RE SAYING LIKE

These MF folks can casually spend 300 years mastering bobbin lace and then can casually spend 100 years making one full length entire ass bobbin lace DRESS out of linen spun as fine as a sigh. Can you fucking IMAGINE the absolute Bullshit they get up to with fancy weaving.

[fibermagpie]

And now I’m wondering how the Hobbits would have retted their fibers. Like the Hobbits are all about the warm and cozy vibe. I but they would wet rett

[enki2]

[woman-becomer]

eat an entire can of sweetened condensed milk. you deserve it.

[platter-o-teeth-deactivated2025]

(sigh) okay... (CRUUEEENNNCH....) (SCREEEEEENCH...) owie.. (CRUUEEENCH)

[woman-becomer]

this is one of the most rewarding things about posting self care tips on this site. witnessing people's lives getting better in real time. this is why I post

[roycohn]

something i've noticed that has become really annoying in the past 10 years or so is this fad of what i've been calling, for lack of a better word, "structural whataboutism." it's that thing where, when faced with a concrete, resolvable problem in your community, your answer is to blame it on a vast, unsolvable issue of structural inequality and then throw up your hands. "there's trash all over the ground in this corner of the park" becomes "well, that's where MEN OF COLOR congregate after their 12-HOUR GRAVEYARD SHIFTS and i'm not going to support a CARCERAL SOLUTION to a CAPITALISTIC PROBLEM. WE NEED TO ELIMINATE POVERTY AND THE SUBJUGATION OF THE WORKING CLASS" and it's like okay but sis. someone still has to go pick up the trash. we don't need a carceral solution, we need more trash cans. you're not going to eliminate poverty and the subjugation of the working class and even if ya did, there would still be trash on the ground. how any of this passes for radicalism within their peer groups i simply don't understand. it's radical laziness more than anything else

[figtreeandvine]

I was on a canoe trip once with a river biologist who worked for the county. After we found and removed a car tire, she started talking about the annual river cleanup her department organized. From a water quality or ecological standpoint, removing shopping carts, car tires, and other macro trash from the river really wasn't that important, she said. The real threat to the river was industrial and agricultural runoff.

"But!" she said:

People who see a clean, trash-free river are more likely support laws to curb more harmful "systemic" forms of pollution. People who participate in river cleanups take pride in their work--their river!--and become evangelists for protecting it.

Immediate action leads to systemic awareness, which leads to systemic change.

[writing-with-olive]

Literally this.

Saying "there's no point in doing something small until the big thing is fixed" is literally just the Glorious Revolution Rapture story all over again, and it's not helpful.