#shayvaalski

[canisalbus]

I am COMICALLY bad at math and it hasn't stopped me from enjoying knitting! If you're following a pattern you often don't need it at all, and even if you do, many pattern makers will provide the How To Math for you. Most of what I have to do related to numbers is count stitches and rows, and I use a row-counter for the latter one. I really think insisting one has to be good at math to do knitting and crocheting, crafts that PREDATE MANY KINDS OF MATH and are commonly practiced by children and, historically, the fully illiterate, is completely wild. You don't need to do that. You can just learn to knit or crochet and figure it out as you go.

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[pasiphile]

I am TRYING to catch up on fast in fire this morning while the baby plays but instead I've had to remove an actual gumball from his mouth, prevent him from discovering the stairs, and watch him extremely closely as he tries to pry off outlet covers. Just lemme read my fic :(

update: while I was writing that he found an old piece of cheese on the floor somewhere

Ohgod I got war flashbacks. You're so brave and strong. Good luck, hoping for long and restful naps for baby.

[skaldish]

shayvaalski replied to your post “Did some research with some pals the other day and discovered Jötnar...”

I'm not Heathen but this was definitely in my like, childhood versions of Norse myths, which themselves were in quite dated books. Perhaps it's come up in multiple iterations because everyone thinks of that area of the world as Very Cold, All Ice?

Perhaps. A quick glance at the Marvel mythos tells me that ice giants first appeared in the Marvelverse in the 40′s and reappeared in the 60′s, so it’s possible the mix-up could go back that far. I’m not sure how old your books are though.

But you might be onto something anyway, considering that Jotun are more like...personified forces of nature (and think of how the Scandinavian countries look!). But while the mythos sometimes makes it a point to distinguish those personifications, like with the fire giant Logi (not to be confused with Loki), many times they’re pretty vague.

Our need to categorize things into neat little boxes is a Victorian thing anyway, and likely didn’t feature in the Norse worldview like it does in Western society.

[vaspider]

Hi. Thank you for being another queer nonbinary butch who's just as grouchy as I am about being told they can't be that without being a lesbian!

[doctornerdington]

Siobahn counts magpies in the tree

One is a sign of mischief Two a sign of mirth Three is a sign of a wedding, Four is a sign of a death Five is a sign of rain, Six is the sign of a baby born Seven is a child without a name.

Siobahn feeds chicks with fierce, cold glee

One is sorrow Two, shame Three you know Four, a sign of death Five is pain Six is laughter uncontrolled Seven is love you cannot hold.

Siobahn can hear the magpies sing

One, a wish Two, a kiss Three, a girl Four, a boy Five, heaven Six, hell Seven, the devil’s own self.

Siobahn kills magpies with a string

One is a sign of anger Two is what you’re worth Three a hanging Four a birth Five for silver Six for gold Seven for a truth never told.

Eight you live Nine you die

Siobahn breaks the bodies when they grow cold

A Wits on Tap remix of @shayvaalski’s fascinating and haunting Tell Me Ma. I’ve never read a fic quite like it. I hope this little poem lives up to it.

Image source.

[andthebluestblue]

Me, not knowing how to convert 200 cubic feet to yards but still extremely confident: yeah, we need 67 yards of dirt

[pasiphile]

shayvaalski replied to your post: shayvaalski replied to your post: Sunday Six37K..

It has taken me TWO YEARS to write a 50k original piece

how do u do this

I actually don’t really understand how anyone not does this. I mean, I know I’m a bit unusual when it comes to writing speed, but for me when I start writing it just... flows out? I go all hyperfocused and the story just comes, and if it doesn’t I might as well give up because I can’t force it out. Like, if you give me a whole day and a new thing to write I can churn out 5K raw content without that much trouble, I reckon. Of course, it’s first draft stuff so there’s still masses of editing to do, but it’s so much easier to edit and add to something that’s already there than to start from scratch.

Not gonna lie, I get kinda smug about my monster-writing. Otoh, whenever I get too smug all I gotta do is remember @saxifraga-x-urbium, who writes like 100K in two weeks and fucking publishes it, so. 

(And that finishing-thing is a big part of it. I may be able to write a lot in one go but it takes ages before I’ve got it all edited out to postable content.)

[pasiphile]

shayvaalski replied to your post “In your Newlyweds fic (which is brilliant ahhhh I am rereading it for...”

Oooh I love this meta a lot. I think a ton about the way and reasons Jim (and Siobhan) take on identity, and what it means when they do -- or don't.

Oh, interesting! For me, a thing that sort of happened with writing Alex in Progeny was that their sense of identity are vastly different - Jim’s is fluid, adaptable, changing, but Alex’ is very solid; she knows exactly who she is and she doesn’t want to (or can’t) change that, even in situations where she really should be a bit more adaptable.