ast-heljar:

cynicalpie:

lollard:

ihavealotoffeelings:

jrrtolkiennerd:

gwuscrc:

Gandalf breaking all the rules. 

The Minas Tirith Archives Department probably had strict rules about proper record keeping procedures too, but try telling Gandalf anything and you’d probably get some form of “I do what I want.”

@nerdyveganrunner

Eh, I’m gonna quibble with “the Minas Tirith Archives Department probably has strict rules about proper record keeping procedures”, given that we see Gandalf being shown into a poorly lit room full of jumbled stacks of books and loose papers that was clearly a disaster before he arrived. Maybe they did have good standards at one point, but Denethor cut the library budget and they had to downsize their storage space, let go of some staff, you know how it is.

#DO NOT GET ME STARTED ON MINAS TIRITH’S POOR ARCHIVAL STANDARDS#I HAVE RANTED ABOUT THEM BEFORE#I WILL RANT ABOUT THEM AGAIN#I HAVE A TAG SPECIFICALLY FOR RANTING ABOUT THE MINAS TIRITH ARCHIVES#much that once was has been lost for none now live who can remember where we shelved it

@backofthebookshelf

@edderkopper

You know, I still like this and it makes me giggle, but I have some quibbles about some things on it. Mostly because, well, I have been watching living history stuff the last few days, and dude.

That bit about no beverages? That’s not a beverage. That’s a magnifier.

By at least the early 16th century – possibly earlier – they had figured out that fill a spherical glass container with water, and you can magnify details on a manuscript being illuminated. By no more than a century after that, they also were well aware you could use the same thing to magnify light from candles or rushlights, for a brighter light to do detail work.

In Middle Earth, I’m betting the dwarves came up with the water-in-glass-bulbs for magnifiers, both for seeing detail work up close, and for magnifying light to have brighter lights for that detail work. That spread, probably to elves sometime in the First or Second Age first, and then from there to humans.

(And it’s probably those who used it for sewing, and anyone who did manuscripts who adopted it first as it spread out of Dwarven cultures, because hey, look, tools to make thier lives easier!)

In the context of Gandalf doing research? He’s probably using it to magnify the candle light so as to keep the candles further away from the manuscripts.

Which, they would have used candles for light even around manuscripts, when they couldn’t get natural light. Now, granted, they’d probably have done most of their writing/reading in daylight, because it’s better anyway, but still. Sometimes things happen, and you’re trying to do that by candle light. Or, it’s the middle of winter, and you never have enough light anyway.

The desk is the wrong sort of desk to do any writing at, so the ink is, indeed, misplaced, at least with the quill for a writing implement. You need an angled working surface for clean writing.

The clutter… well. That is asking for a fire to start, Gandalf, you should know better than that, even if the archivists have fallen down on their job.

(Gloves for handling fragile items I’m uncertain of, but suspect is a more modern thing with manuscripts, and for the sort of feel that a lot of Middle Earth has, and especially Gondor, that… wouldn’t even be a thought. You use bare hands because gloves are too bulky and you risk more damage to the scrolls and old books from the lack of dexterity than you do from natural skin oils and sweat.)

Hugs for EVERYONE*

morgynleri:

*hugs you all* Because today is a day for hugs, and I’m going to run out of spoons if I go putting hugs in everyone’s ask box.

Feel free to reblog this to give a hug to every one of your followers.

*who is comfortable with being hugged. If you do not like hugs or are uncomfortable with physical contact, or even just prefer not a hug from someone not a mutual friend, cookies or other snacks suitable for your dietary needs and restrictions.

the-real-seebs:

thechekhov:

*this is especially important: these days on Tumblr there’s a wonderful atmosphere of being able to talk openly about your mental illness or your struggle. And that’s great! But there’s a difference between sharing in order to help yourself and other people and sharing just because you have no other coping mechanisms. As much as you’re able, try to work on developing a different outlet. People aren’t qualified to be your therapist because they’re nice to you a couple of times. Please remember that they have lives too, and their job is not to make you feel better or pity you, no matter how difficult your life is. 

And last but not least: 

But… 

I really don’t have a way to better this. 

Your interests are your own. I can’t advise anyone to change their interests to fit in with a certain group of people – that’s stupid, and actually quite damaging to your sense of self. 

Instead, I would recommend that, maybe if you feel like your topics of conversation are falling flat with this group of people, you move on to other, greener pastures. There are bound to be places where your ideas mesh better with an audience. 

And of course – try to be considerate about what you say and how you say it. 

Sometimes, what might seem like a harmless comment to you might be a very discomforting thought to another person. I recently had a conversation on a forum with a guy who was telling me that his headcanon was that Pearl (from SU) would soon get a male love interest who loved mechanics and weapons next, and that would be her best arc, because she would finally get a ‘healthy’ love interest. 

His intentions were good, but he was entirely unaware of how cringey this kind of thing was to a bunch of (probably queer) people, who have spent their entire lives being told that the only ‘good’ character development for them would be to get a ‘male love interest’. No one wanted to be the jerk to say “fuck off, we don’t want that to happen” but everyone was answering him in a flat way, trying to discourage the discussion further. Instead of picking up on the hint, he bulldozed on, thinking he was having a ‘lively conversation’ which was, in fact, in its late stages of death. 

I know I’ll probably get a few messages to this saying: What about people on the Autistic Spectrum? Sometimes, people can’t pick up social cues or ‘hints’. And if that’s the case, it’s incredibly difficult to understand why you’re not having any luck communicating despite your best efforts. 

I feel that on a person level, please believe me. I made this infograph for THAT VERY REASON. Because I WAS that awkward kid who didn’t pick up on hints well. In fact, I still have trouble talking to people. If any of you have had the misfortune of being my conversational partner, you’ll know that I tend to be overly blunt and come off as very unfriendly. It’s something that I, myself, am working on currently in order to grow into a better person. It’s a struggle in progress, but I am aiming towards the progress side, and I just wanted to help out others while I was at it. 

This is a really good starting guide to the social skills everyone thinks you should have just picked up magically.

So, yes, this is exactly the advice I think autistic people would benefit from; it actually tells you concrete, actionable, things you could do. I wish someone had told me this stuff when I was a kid.

Dances With Love and Death – Morgyn Leri (morgynleri) – Jupiter Ascending (2015) [Archive of Our Own]

theotherguysride:

deadcatwithaflamethrower:

morgynleri:

Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Kiza Apini & Stinger Apini, Stinger Apini & Taylinn Adonai (OC), Kiza Apini & Taylinn Adonai (OC), Stinger Apini/Taylinn Adonai (OC)
Characters: Stinger Apini, Kiza Apini, Taylinn Adonai (Original Character)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universes, GFY, five things, Dubious Consent
Summary:

Five lifetimes that never were, dances between Stinger Apini and Taylinn Adonai. Flitting bee and smiling death.

This is awesome and worth the read.

No chance to read this until tonight but I love Jupiter Ascendig and Mrgyn so go give them love.

Next day reblog! 🙂

Dances With Love and Death – Morgyn Leri (morgynleri) – Jupiter Ascending (2015) [Archive of Our Own]

Dances With Love and Death – Morgyn Leri (morgynleri) – Jupiter Ascending (2015) [Archive of Our Own]

Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Kiza Apini & Stinger Apini, Stinger Apini & Taylinn Adonai (OC), Kiza Apini & Taylinn Adonai (OC), Stinger Apini/Taylinn Adonai (OC)
Characters: Stinger Apini, Kiza Apini, Taylinn Adonai (Original Character)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universes, GFY, five things, Dubious Consent
Summary:

Five lifetimes that never were, dances between Stinger Apini and Taylinn Adonai. Flitting bee and smiling death.

Dances With Love and Death – Morgyn Leri (morgynleri) – Jupiter Ascending (2015) [Archive of Our Own]

rehlia:

undertailsoulsex:

cimness:

futureevilscientist:

roane72:

worldwithinworld:

When you are writing a story and refer to a character by a physical trait, occupation, age, or any other attribute, rather than that character’s name, you are bringing the reader’s attention to that particular attribute. That can be used quite effectively to help your reader to focus on key details with just a few words. However, if the fact that the character is “the blond,” “the magician,” “the older woman,” etc. is not relevant to that moment in the story, this will only distract the reader from the purpose of the scene. 

If your only reason for referring to a character this way is to avoid using his or her name or a pronoun too much, don’t do it. You’re fixing a problem that actually isn’t one. Just go ahead and use the name or pronoun again. It’ll be good.

Someone finally spelled out the REASON for using epithets, and the reasons NOT to.

In addition to that:

If the character you are referring to in such a way is THE VIEWPOINT CHARACTER, likewise, don’t do it. I.e. if you’re writing in third person but the narration is through their eyes, or what is also called “third person deep POV”. If the narration is filtered through the character’s perception, then a very external, impersonal description will be jarring. It’s the same, and just as bad, as writing “My bright blue eyes returned his gaze” in first person.

Furthermore, 

if the story is actually told through the eyes of one particular viewpoint character even though it’s in the third person, and in their voice, as is very often the case, then you shouldn’t refer to the characters in ways that character wouldn’t.

In other words, if the third-person narrator is Harry Potter, when Dumbledore appears, it says “Dumbledore appears”, not “Albus appears”. Bucky Barnes would think of Steve Rogers as “Steve”, where another character might think of him as “Cap”. Chekov might think of Kirk as “the captain”, but Bones thinks of him as “Jim”. 

Now, there are real situations where you, I, or anybody might think of another person as “the other man”, “the taller man”, or “the doctor”: usually when you don’t know their names, like when there are two tap-dancers and a ballerina in a routine and one of the men lifts the ballerina and then she reaches out and grabs the other man’s hand; or when there was a group of people talking at the hospital and they all worked there, but the doctor was the one who told them what to do. These are all perfectly natural and normal. Similarly, sometimes I think of my GP as “the doctor” even though I know her name, or one of my coworkers as “the taller man” even though I know his. But I definitely never think of my long-term life partner as “the green-eyed woman” or one of my best friends as “the taller person” or anything like that. It’s not a sensible adjective for your brain to choose in that situation – it’s too impersonal for someone you’re so intimately acquainted with. Also, even if someone was having a one night stand or a drunken hookup with a stranger, they probably wouldn’t think of that person as “the other man”: you only think of ‘other’ when you’re distinguishing two things and you don’t have to go to any special effort to distinguish your partner from yourself to yourself.

This is something that I pretty consistently have to advise for those I beta edit for.  (It doesn’t help that I relied on epithets a lot in the earlier sections of my main fic because I was getting into the swing of things.)  I am reblogging this so fanfic writers can use this as a reference.

A good rule of thumb: a character’s familiarity with another character decreases the need for an epithet (and most times you really don’t need one at all).

Good writing advice.