Welcome!

It makes me happy when they listen

It makes me giddy when they get to talk about their interests

guys, did you know that you can ask chatgpt to write you a scene, and then look at it and think, 'bruh, i could write it better'? it can actually help you getting out of your writing block??? this is my biggest discovery i'm actually so happy

i hate how you get desensitized to the cool stuff in your WIP if you've been writing it for a long time so when you read back over it you're like "this isn't as cool as i thought :(" but it still is! you just read it too many times

Gotta recirculate this post periodically just cuz

Just don't read the post too many times.

Oh god oh fuck

This is probably the worst that anything has ever aged

Hey folks, if you want to fight back against the twitterfication of tumblr USE IT LIKE IT'S TUMBLR!!!!!! REBLOG THINGS!!!!!! USE THE TAGS TO SCREAM AT YOUR FRIENDS!!!!!!!

Woke up to this having more reblogs than likes! Keep it going! Do it on every post! REBLOG THINGS ON THE REBLOGGING THINGS SITE!

Hey folks, if you want to fight back against the twitterfication of tumblr USE IT LIKE IT'S TUMBLR!!!!!! REBLOG THINGS!!!!!! USE THE TAGS TO SCREAM AT YOUR FRIENDS!!!!!!!

Woke up to this having more reblogs than likes! Keep it going! Do it on every post! REBLOG THINGS ON THE REBLOGGING THINGS SITE!

hunting lessons

another god of war reference

Full-grown (except for the hair)

Krobus is enjoying the new waterfalls...

I think the funniest dynamic for arranged-marriage royalty would be a queen who came here 100% prepared to murder her future husband and rule as a widow queen in her own right, only to discover that the king is autistic as hell and responds to her wish to rule with "oh thank god please do, I don't want to be bothered by these people. I can just tell them to go bother you instead, if you really want that. I've got beetles I wanted to study."

"I'm really not good at it," the king admits with horrible, aching grief. The country is in disarray. Peasants go hungry. Nobles trade power amongst themselves with impunity.

So the queen takes over and ruthlessly sets things to rights. Fires several generals, hangs nobles, redirects wealth to the peasantry. It isn't long before the first assassination attempt, which she expected.

She did not expect her docile, beetle-obsessed husband to go absolutely feral and fling himself at the assassins wielding a pair of sharp knives.

Also, the beetles are intended to attack and kill a certain type of invasive worm that has been killing off the gourd and potato crops for decades. He’s been trying since he was a child to crossbreed several native species to be hardier and better diggers. When he finally gets it right it’s all over for you bitches (“you bitches” being mass starvation of subsistence farmers).

Mad Scientist and the Head of HR ass dynamic

On the subject of assassination attempts, turns out one of the King's other hyperfixations (let's be real, none of us have one), is martial arts, particularly improvisational ones. Thus far he has dispatched or dealt with assorted nefarious individuals using: - 3 completely dissimilar swords, two of which were unsharpened decorative pieces - 7 different elements of the Royal Dinner Service, including the caviar fork and soup spoons - A quill sharpener - 4 candlesticks, including a pair that was a wedding gift (the gifter was said to be very pleased that their gift had proved so useful, and glad they'd held up with only minor damage) - A chambermaid's floor mop - The same chambermaid's bucket - A brass bed warmer -His second favourite bug catching net -3 Entomology pins The last time someone tried to put a contract on the Queen's life literally every guild, gang, coterie, rookery, cabal, and known freelancer in the country rejected the offer out of hand.

The Queen learns to appreciate both the King's hyperfixations. They're more useful than anyone would give them credit for. And she loves how absolutely sincere he is when he tries to share them with her. It's a rare thing, this pride and joy of a job well done, untainted by the need to dominate someone else (with the exception of agricultural pests). Even if other rulers and even his own subjects would laugh at this silly beetle king, she alone knows that he cares deeply for his kingdom and for her.

That secret is her greatest treasure.

There are some days when she gets home frustrated about the compromises she's had to make with stubborn nobles too entrenched to be immediately removed, or agonizing about long-term stability and the current common mood, but instead of comforting her, he's too caught up in the minutiae of his research. In those moments, she wonders about crushing him. She would savor how his joy turned to despair as he realized how little regard anyone holds for him, and how he only had the safety to enjoy his hobbies at his wife's pleasure. Or perhaps she would drag him into the political arena and laugh as she watches him forced to choose between hardening his heart and shrinking further into irrelevance. And then, just to show it was nothing personal, she would kiss the tears off his face, and tell him that this is for the best...

But then he'll wrap up his research, and ask her for her opinion on something so oddly specific, that she realizes he has been paying attention to everything she's been saying and doing up until now. Then all thoughts of rage dissipate as she considers her answer. And afterwards, when she vents her frustrations about the nobles she's working with, he'll heartily agree with her sentiments, and chime in with infuriating or embarrassing anecdotes about those same nobles. He always manages to make her laugh at least once.

In those moments she remembers why she let him live and remain close to her. Her king is so honest about both his passion and his vulnerability. She savors that, and she knows it would be a shame if anything destroyed this innocence.

Aside from beetle and martial arts, the King also loves miniatures. He has an illuminated manuscript that he's working on, about a beetle knight seeking to slay the evil worm. Unfortunately, it's not getting done anytime soon because he has to paint the illustrations and compose the verses, but he just doesn't have the time or energy after a particularly intense sparring session or certain time-gated experiments. Though, sometimes, the Queen will come up with a rhyme on the fly, and the King will make a note of it to include in his manuscript. She also loves listening to him explain about his dyes, especially one made from beetles that passed away, and she wonders it they can be used to dye cloth.

One day when they're just chatting, the King asks the Queen if she has hobbies aside from her work running their country. It actually actually makes her pause and think. She's been so caught in this web of administrative meetings, political intrigues, and the obligatory occasional royal banquet that she's barely had any time left for herself.

"Riding." She finally says. "There's nothing like feeling the wind whip in your face while you speed by everything. Sometimes I'd just take my Thundering Leopard into the wasteland and let him run. And then it felt like we were the same beast, and we could run all way over the horizon without even getting tired."

The King listens intently, and she continues on.

"Jousting tournaments. I didn't always participate, but I like seeing the knights' armor gleam. I like being caught in the excitement, especially when they're off their horses and going hand to hand; wondering it this is it. This is the fight where one of them actually kills the other. And sometimes they'd ask me for tokens, and then I'd cheer as those men went out to fight, or even die for me. Gave me some perspective."

She realizes that explanation might have been a little intense, but the King isn't cringing yet.

"Dressmaking."

The King smiles. He doesn't laugh, so she feels safe about going on.

"I like the feel of different fabrics, and watching the way they drape off bodies. There's a lot you can show off with a dress. A lot you can hide as well. I'm sure they told you how good my needlework was when they got us engaged."

She falls silent. There are many activities that no longer has time for, activities she took for granted back when she was a powerless but carefree girl.

The King fidgets, then speaks without looking her in the eye. "I don't know anything about clothes, and I haven't jousted much...but uh...I do know how to ride."

"Are you suggesting something?"

"Well...grandpa had a hunting lodge in this forest..." As he speaks, his tone grows more assured.

"I've still got business..."

"No, it won't interrupt anything." He looks her in the eye, clearly excited. "We're supposed to make a tour around the country during harvest time, right? Inspect how the nobles are managing their estates? What if we did a quick detour over there? And...I can get horses...and other people who like riding..."

She has to agree. It's been so long since she's dashed into the wind.

The country-wide tour is a long and complicated affair, and it's all worth it for that one moment of freedom at the hunting lodge. The Queen makes sure the saddle and reins on her horse are well-secured before hopping on. She notices the King not making the same checks, and asks him if he needs any help. He tells her not to worry.

She does one back and forth lap around the lodge. It's exhilarating in a way entirely different from scoring a victory in war or negotiations. It's only when she gets back that she sees the King walking beside his mare behind her.

"It's been a while since we rode together, and the saddle chafed both me and her. And I can't ride bareback, so yeah. Did you like it, though."

She laughs and dismounts.

"Come on. I'll show you how to ride bareback if you show me how to twirl those candlesticks like you did last week."

WHAT A DREAM

Finally, some good fucking interior design

tweek is not pleased

nasa: we're going to shoot three rockets directly at the sun during the total eclipse. for study and research purposes.

me: oh cool

nasa: we have named the rockets apep. this stands for atmospheric perturbations [in the] eclipse path.

me: oh cool

nasa: apep is also the ancient egyptian deity of chaos and darkness, who ceaselessly seeks to extinguish the sun. we launch these rockets directly at the sun in the name of apep.

me: oh... cool?

Happy 1 year Watching and Dreaming Anniversary!

“If you have time to watch Netflix you have time for a side hustle” my side hustle is relaxing so that my body and brain can heal from by this nose-to-the-grindstone bullshit. I refuse to feel guilty for being a human with the need to relax sometimes. my side hustle is no.

whenever i hear about hustle culture i always think about this post on r/antiwork