escondidx:

“We will never be the same again. But here’s a little secret for you—no one is ever the same thing again after anything. You are never the same twice, and much of your unhappiness comes from trying to pretend that you are. Accept that you are different each day, and do so joyfully, recognizing it for the gift it is. Work within the desires and goals of the person you are currently, until you aren’t that person anymore, and everything changes once again.”

— (Cecil, Welcome to Night Vale, Episode 75) That is legitimately some of the most helpful advice I’ve ever heard.
(via sleuths)

mrmeriwether:

I love the generational gap between emoji usage. Anyone over 50 sees 🙃 and thinks “silly time! whee 🙃”, whereas the rest of us immediately hear, verbatim, “they ask you how you are, and you just have to say that you’re fine, when you’re not really fine, but you just can’t get into it because they would ne–”

stultiloquentia:

downthepub:

stultiloquentia:

stultiloquentia:

I am reading scholarly works about Jane Austen and having hearteyes about obscure details in the Pemberley chapters of P&P that indicate Mr. Darcy’s sustainable land management praxis.

Okay, let’s talk about Pemberley!

Austen, as a rule, doesn’t spend many paragraphs describing locations. There’s often information to be gleaned from their names (Sense and Sensibility is full of lurking references to sexual scandals and Mansfield Park to slavery), but Longbourn just means “long stream” or “long boundary,” Netherfield means “lower field,” and Rosings’ original owner was a redhead. Meryton, a pun on “merry town,” is kind of fascinating, given the installment of the militia and the threat to stability and serenity they represent. Partying and shenanigans. Possibly a Shakespeare ref.

Longbourn barely gets any description at all. From the get-go, everyone who lives there is obsessed with other places, with getting out (except Mr. Bennet, who never wants to leave his library, never mind the house). Lady Catherine deems it small and mildly uncomfortable, which is in keeping with the theme of confinement, but also it’s Lady Catherine talking. Netherfield can’t tell us much about Bingley, who is only a tenant. Rosings is expensively, ostentatiously modern and gaudily furnished, though it has a handsome park that Lady Catherine and her stifled daughter never set foot in but Elizabeth and Darcy both frequently escape to during their stays.

So it’s notable and wonderful that Austen goes out of her way to describe Pemberley as an old-fashioned, highly successful, working estate. Its practical old Anglo-Saxon name means “Pember’s clearing.” A pember is a man who grows barley. Darcy most likely still does. As Elizabeth and the Gardiners approach and tour the house, they notice and admire its beautiful surrounding woods, and then when they wander outside, the specific word Austen uses is coppice woods. A coppice is a woodland filled with tree species that grow new shoots from their stumps when you chop them down. Darcy probably has oaks on a fifty-year cycle as well as faster-growing species such as hawthorn and hornbeam for firewood, timber and cattle fodder. Coppice forestry is functional and sustainable, and provides habitat for beasts and birds.

Darcy is the anti-John Dashwood (Dashwood, srsly), the brother in Sense and Sensibility who inherits Elinor and Marianne’s childhood estate of Norland, whose wife immediately starts making plans to hack down trees (not even coppice trees, but big, gorgeous, venerable hardwoods) to make way for a folly. Jane Austen hated follies. Also, it ought to be noted that timber was so valuable in Britain at the time that estates often had inheritance clauses that detailed who was and wasn’t allowed to chop down what.

Darcy’s a food producer and land conservator, prefers nature over fussy, ornamental landscape design, his servants and tenants like him, he gives money to the poor… and… he’s a trout fisherman! He shoots, too, as do Bingley and Hurst and Mr. Bennet, but it’s a particular mark in his favour that Austen singles him and Mr. Gardiner out as anglers. It’s a pastime that signifies a taste for contemplation and quietness and appreciation of nature, as blissfully described in The Compleat Angler; or, The Contemplative Man’s Recreation, a hugely popular travel book first published in the 1600s and reprinted often for 18th C libraries. The plot of The Compleat Angler is about the conversion of a hunter (pastime of the ultra-rich) to a fisherman who learns to love the peaceful sport. We receive ample evidence elsewhere that Darcy is a man capable of swift, decisive action and formidable effectiveness. But at Pemberley, Austen takes care to show us how he’s balanced.

Most of the information in this post comes from Margaret Doody’s Jane Austen’s Names. 

I didn’t know any of this!  I always thought it was a bit odd how her viewing the estate changed her views of the man himself, as if it was about how big the place was.  Instead it was how he cared for the land / people.  Fascinating!  Completely missed that.

It’s literally his character reference! Most women at the time had to marry for financial security, yet marriage was horribly risky, because divorce was almost impossible. If you married someone you didn’t know well, and he turned out to be lazy, irresponsible, or abusive, you were stuck. 

This is why so many Austen heroes are mature, almost frumpy men the heroines have known for years. Local fellows with family ties. They don’t offer breathless romances; the happy endings they offer are happy because they are safe.

Darcy is not a local boy. Darcy is not a fully formed, baggable Austen hero when he proposes at Hunsford, not just because he’s rude af, but because Lizzy doesn’t know him well enough yet. She has no real way of knowing how he would treat her. Austen sends Lizzy to Pemberley not to dazzle her with Darcy’s wealth, but to provide her with good, hard evidence of his treatment of the people under his protection, including his tenants, his sister, and the intelligent, dignified housekeeper who has known him since he was a toddler.

Character references established, we may proceed with the romance.

(n.b. He doesn’t know her either, until she’s rejected him. He proposes, despite his giant pile of reservations, because he’s so horny for her he can’t stand it (at least, to his credit, he’s turned on by her brains as much as her hot little bod), but only after her refusal does he realize how completely he has failed to understand this woman or make himself worthy of her. He falls in love for real only after she has demanded that he live up to his own high standards. Refreshing, ain’t it?)

kurtwagnermorelikekurtwagnerd:

the-macra:

donkey saying “parfaits may be the most delicious thing on the whole damn planet” implies

1. the existence of a concept of a hell and damnation in the shrek universe;
2. the recognition that the earth is one of several spherical bodies which orbit the sun

parfait is a french word which implies another troubling feature of the shrek universe: france

turing-tested:

m86:

turing-tested:

self care is putting yourself to bed on a regular schedule because it’s the base treatment for mood disorders

there’s no twist or anything it’s just really really good for u to sleep at consistent times

me reading this at 5am:

me, reading my own post at 5am:

blairdiggory:

Friendly reminder from a type one diabetic to NOT use the “OMG I’M GONNA GET DIABEETUS” jokes as a response to anything (pictures of unhealthy food, favorite fanfictions, etc.) because:
1) It’s pretty offensive. I’m not overly offended personally because this joke doesn’t Target type one diabetes, but type two (and type one) diabetes imposes serious health risks. It’s not ok to make fun of that.
2) It spreads misinformation. Type one and type two diabetes are very different, but you don’t get either type from one unhealthy meal. Furthermore, I don’t need people who only know the diabeetus meme telling me “You can’t eat that! You’re diabetic!”. I promise I understand how my disease works.
3) It’s 2017. The joke has died out, I promise!

chronically-sweet:

i did a thing

sometimes it do just be like that tho

ironmanstan:

‘are you okay’ by normal people standards? no. by my standards? do you see me crying? no? then yea im good

geekandmisandry:

@rippledragon linked this to me and a good time is being had.

mothdogs:

closet-keys:

bodhis:

i miss her so much i think about her every single day (the local library)

not to be librarian on main, but for everyone who relates to this post, please check your local library’s website.

it is the responsible thing right now for libraries to have their buildings closed, but many of us are still providing services including reference (that’s librarian for “you can ask us questions about anything and we’ll find you relevant, accurate information or refer you to someone who can”) and virtual programming. Our library also offers free telehealth counseling services with a licensed social worker. You might not know all the services your library is providing until you ask, so it’s worth reaching out!

We’ve noticed our reference stats dropping since we closed our physical doors and are thinking that people assume because we’re not at the building we’re not available, but we are still here for our community! Your librarians are probably there for you too. Please check their website and social media pages!

not to be children’s librarian on main, but please check your library’s facebook, twitter, and even instagram and youtube! my whole system is posting weekly follow-along programming like storytimes, painting classes, playing D&D online, and sharing resources to help get us all through this. like and share their content if you can! it really helps the branches out and gets our services out there. 

may12324:

The extended Mighty Nein!!!💖💜💙💚💛

because-its-warm:

sandersstudies:

veganconnor:

things that made me stop wanting to die that require no effort whatsoever

• change the color used to highlight text on your laptop
• move the pictures on your wall
• stack whatever clutter is in your room into piles even if you don’t have time to clean it all
• slightly vary your commute, even just by one street
• change where you sit and scroll aimlessly on your phone even if it’s only to the chair in your room instead of your bed
• drink water or juice out of a wine glass in the morning because nothing is real
• shower with the lights off, without music
• buy $3 flowers at trader joe’s—they look bad next to the more expensive ones but they look so good in your room
• start typing things you don’t post into your notes. your thoughts can be worth documenting even if you don’t deem them worth sharing
• wake up super early just once. you don’t have to make it a habit it’s just extra satisfying to go to bed that night
• listen to the entirety of your favorite album from 2015

Almost all of these are about variety. Humans need stimulation! We need enrichment! We literally cannot do the same thing every day!

The other day I was feeling miserable, so I hopped on a bus and rode it all the way back to where I’d started, and my brain, which had finally had some proper stimulation via new environments, was suddenly ready to go again!

This is why taking walks/drives and trying new hobbies are good for you! Don’t turn yourself into a sad zoo animal! You need some pumpkins to roll around in your enclosure!

ITS BACK!!!!!

god i fucking love the quote “dont turn yourself into a sad zoo animal” it has really inspired me!