Icon by @ThatSpookyAgent. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. BlueSky: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. The X-Files. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
for the self-conscious beginner: No one makes great things
until the world intimately knows their mediocrity. Don’t think of
your writing as terrible; think of it as preparing to
contribute something great.
for the self-conscious late bloomer: Look at old writing as how far
you’ve come. You can’t get to where you are today without covering all
that past ground. For that, be proud.
for the perfectionist: Think about how much you complain about things you love—the mistakes and retcons in all your favorite series—and how you still love them anyway. Give yourself that same space.
for the realist: There will be people who hate your story even if
it’s considered a classic. But there will be people who love your
story, even if it strange and unpopular.
for the fanfic writer: Your work is not lesser for not following canon. When you write, you’ve created a new work on its own. It can
be, but does not have to be, limited by the source material. Canon is not the
end-all, be-all.
for the writer’s blocked: It doesn’t need to be perfect. Sometimes you have to move on and commit a few writing sins if it means you can create better things out of it.
for the lost: You started writing for a reason; remember that
reason. It’s ok to move on. You are more than your writing. It will be here if you want to come back.
So while doing some pirate research for the play I’m writing I stumbled upon one of the most amazing things I’ve ever read. In the 5th century A.D. there was a Scandinavian princess called Alwilda who’s father tried to set her up to marry Alf, the Prince of Denmark. Alwilda wasn’t cool with this so she and some female companions dressed as men, stole a ship, and sailed away. Eventually they met a company of pirates who were in need of a new captain and they were so captivated by her that they elected her as their new leader. Her crew became so infamous that Prince Alf was sent out to stop them. When their ships met he took Alwilda prisoner and she was so impressed by Alf’s skill that she agreed to marry him after all and eventually became the Queen of Denmark.
I stopped caring whether this was factually accurate about halfway through because it’s completely AWESOME.
Medievalist here for triumphant fact-checking: this story is, if not true, at least true according to the history of the Danes (Gesta Danorum) written in the 12th century by Saxo Grammaticus. You can read his account of Alwilda’s story in the original Latin here, or in English translation here. Highlights include:
She exchanged woman’s for man’s attire, and, no longer the most modest of maidens, began the life of a warlike rover. Enrolling in her service many maidens who were of the same mind, she happened to come to a spot where a band of rovers were lamenting the death of their captain, who had been lost in war; they made her their rover captain.
I love the implication that there were lots of Danish maidens just WAITING for the opportunity of a life of piracy…
I’m disgusted, I have a big ol’ mason jar full of wine, and this Southern motherfucking Democrat is about to go off on some rude ass fuckers up in Philly tonight.
I don’t give one single fuck about your moral purity. I don’t give one single fuck about how much you think the DNC is corrupt or that Hillary is a liar or that she’s a fucking war hawk. I don’t give ONE SINGLE FUCK that you can’t support someone who didn’t support same-sex marriage until 2013.
I spent a whole fucking week listening to people laugh about how Trump’s third wife plagiarized a speech. I spent a whole week listening to people joke about how the Republican convention was a dumpster fire. Y’all didn’t give a shit that their platform is going to literally fucking kill queer people, young people, people with disabilities, and people of color.
Y’all wanna stand in Philadelphia at the fucking Democratic Convention and shout down those who are standing up against the tyrannical, antediluvian beliefs of the pasty-ass GOP who decided, last week, they wanted to send people like 14 year-old me to a camp where I’d be tortured into believing I wasn’t worthy of life.
Y’all gonna shout down the fucking black man who’s on stage advocating for a future that includes a president that believes that his life matters, while y’all spent a whole damn week quiet about how Donald Trump couldn’t care any less about the lives of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Philando Castile…
Y’all were invited into this room. I was at a Trump rally. I saw that shit. You know what happened to protestors there? They didn’t get to hold up signs and shout down the speakers. They were hauled out on their heels by off-duty cops getting paid to take out their aggression on protestors. Your voices are welcome, your voices are heard.
But now is a good time to shut the fuck up and listen.
My life depends on keeping Trump out of office. The life of my friends, my family, the people I love, depends on keeping that rat away from the White House. You know what your choices are this November? Depending on your state, you got up to four choices:
1) The libertarian who supports deregulating banks and healthcare and vaccines, who would lead to a future America that features such hits as corporate slavery and inaccessible healthcare.
2) The green who has no experience and also doesn’t believe in vaccinations and called the racist, xenophobic Brexit a victory for British people.
3) The fascist, xenophobic, homophobic, hateful demagogue who genuinely has a chance of winning this election because 50% of this country is disgusting and awful.
4) Hillary Rodham Clinton.
In many states, you don’t even get choice number 2.
I’m scared that so many of you are gonna go out and vote for 1 and 2 that y’all gonna let 3 win and then guess what?
14-year-old me is dead. You killed him.
When these people stand up to address the country this week in Philly, you know what you need to do? Listen. Learn. Understand. This is the most progressive platform in the history of American politics. There have been queer women of color, women with disabilities, black men, children of undocumented immigrants, sharing the stage with the first lady and the president. This is a platform that includes raising the minimum wage, eliminating college debt, ending police brutality, standing up for the rights of queer Americans and children.
And y’all wanna shout NOW?
Go home. Get the fuck out. You do not own this country. You do not own this struggle. You do not get to decide how the fight is fought.
You need to listen.
Bernie Sanders ran a messy campaign on clear, powerful ideals and I respect that shit. But the people on stage, the people with the microphone, those are the people who are going to lose everything because you won’t let this shit go.
You won’t vote for Clinton? You won’t stand up for the party of people of color, of people with disabilities, of queer people, of women?
Okay, fine, but don’t you fucking speak to me. Your moral high ground means shit to me when it could mean leaving my loved ones in graves.
I’m not done. I’m never done. But I’m tired. I’m scared. I wanted to see Michelle Obama speak to me and my heart and give me hope, but I couldn’t get the fear out of my heart. Ask me a month ago and I would have said that there was no way that we’d see Trump in the White House, but ask me tonight and I just don’t know. I don’t know.
A 2,200-year-old mummy going on display in Israel shows some of the same ailments modern people suffer from: osteoporosis, tooth decay and other effects of an inactive, carbohydrate-rich lifestyle.
Nuphar polysepala is in the waterlily family Nymphaeaceae. Commonly known as Rocky Mountain pond-lily, it is native to western North America. The Rocky Mountain pond-lily is an aquatic species found in high altitude ponds and lakes in the many mountain ranges found in the western United States and Canada. It spreads by thick rhizomes that take root in the mud in the lake bottom. From the underwater rhizome, leaves and flower stalks emerge and float at the water surface. What look to be yellow petals on the flowers of the Rocky Mountain pond-lily are actually sepals; the petals in this species are highly reduced and embedded near the stamens on the inside of the flower. The seeds of this plant are edible, and were most commonly used for flour by indigenous people.
All animals go to heaven is just illogical planning. You’re telling me every crocodile that ever lived is in heaven? Heaven must be swarming crocodiles. Does that sound like heaven to you? Thousands of millions of crocodiles?
*SLAMS FIST ON TABLE*
YES, DAMMIT
And Steve Irwin is showering them all with affection
But does every Stingray go to heaven? I mean, what if Steve Irwin just randomly came across the Stingray that killed him?
Steve would probably pat it and say ‘Sorry I spooked you mate, gosh your a beauty! You must have grown three times since I last saw you!’