I went on a walking tour in Granada today and it ended up being just my partner and I and the tour guide (paying 40€ for a private tour instead of 200€? an absolute win), who was a) our age and b) even more of a history nerd than me. What followed was two hours of intense history learning (as I kept asking questions) and it was an absolutely delightful time of two history nerds nerding out, and my partner being excited to learn as well but just being amused. be! supportive! of! other! people's! interests! it's more fun for everyone
no offense but if someone is excited about something and you make them feel stupid for being excited about it you are the worse type of person
ah see those are the ones coherent enough to have made it on paper, there are others swimming around my head but revision for exams and going home for christmas have forced me to have them remain in my head I'm fucked as soon as exams are over
foolish me, i thought that posting a work would mean that my wips count decrease
and yet, here i sit, with 16 wips when i used to only have like 12-14. and i currently have all of them open in tabs as i try to see what sparks the ✨vibes✨ and the ✨inspo✨
Honestly, probably the best social tip I could ever give you guys is literally just ask. Need to make a doctor's appointment but don't know how? Call the doctor's office and ask. Don't know the meaning of what someone said? Ask them. Don't understand the instructions you were given? Ask them to repeat or clarify. This has literally never failed me, no one's gotten angry, no one's refused to answer.
Even in situations where you think it might not work, I once accidentally missed a deadline to accept a job offer, so I called and asked if they could reset it and they did. Just today I called a doctor and asked how to schedule an appointment, the lady told me how, and then I did it. Didn't know if someone was being sarcastic or not, so I asked and they told me. Just ask.
joel you fucking liar that is your child (apologies to everyone who follows me and now gets to deal with tlou spam for the foreseeable future)
THE LAST OF US TV show 1.06 “Kin” | video game
is my blog now the old guard?? yes.
the old guard + cards against humanity (1/?)
One of my personal nitpicks for historical fantasy is a lack of servants, staff, subordinates, and... idk... subjects? Like, their absence is not... a total dealbreaker for me, depending on the situations the characters are in and whether or not I can just assume that other people are there in the background... but so many of the protagonists in historical fantasy stuff are higher-ranking (very often royalty), and/or have busy jobs, and/or have enormous houses that would necessitate having at least part-time staff.
Like, girl, you should have a maid! WHERE is your chaperone?! WHO is driving this carriage?! Where are your footmen? Are you trying to imply that a WEALTHY DUCHESS is taking a CAB?! You know that you probably have tenants, right? Where is your steward?! Where is your lawyer? Your accountant?! (Like, yeah, you're not going to have your lawyer living in your house, but you HAVE one, right???)
Or, man, you're supposed to be a military commander and you don't even have a single secretary?! Where is your SQUIRE?! (In the spirit of historical fiction, I am jumping wildly across time periods with every sentence here.) Man, I know you aren't looking after your own boots. Where are your GUARDS?! Who set up this tent for you?! Who is looking after your horse?! Who is making and carrying the incredibly valuable maps people are recklessly stabbing daggers into?!
SOMEONE has to be scrubbing these floors and delivering the mail and cooking the meals, and they're probably all DIFFERENT people! My dentist has at least three different receptionists and we can't even get ONE for our court wizard here? A sorcerer's apprentice to take notes? Sherlock Holmes can get away with just having a housekeeper and taking taxis, sure, but your character is supposed to be a KING?! Why is he answering his own front door? He's going to get assassinated.
Like, yes, I understand that a lot of servants in certain places at certain times were supposed to make their labor invisible, but there have always been servants who still had to interact directly with the masters of the house?! Yeah, there are potentially really messy ethics here, class divisions are bullshit, but I don't think ignoring the reality that humans have ALWAYS been doing work for other humans (even if it's just having a collective cooking pot for the group and the cook not necessarily being subservient to anyone) is better than just including some servants and employees? Because a complete absence of them, especially where logically for the worldbuilding there MUST be servants, often makes me think that your main characters just don't care enough to notice the "lower class" people or know their names.
Also, even Frodo Baggins had a gardener and Samwise Gamgee might be the best damn character in the story?! Sam saved the world?! Servants are PEOPLE. Servants are often the funniest and most interesting characters, tbh, with the most to say about a society and its workings, and also the joke of some romantic scene being carefully orchestrated by a stage crew of servants frantically diving into bushes to stay out of sight never gets old to me. Team work makes the dream work!
I don't want to gatekeep historical fiction, especially not historical fantasy, because the worlds don't necessarily have to conform to our own and may have magic and characters are often in very unique circumstances, but... sometimes I pick up a story and it's like... "Author, please tell me that you know there is a difference between a butler and a valet?!"
Melanie: I created balance.
Layton: You ruined a perfectly good three-quarters of the population is what you did! Look at them! They have anxiety!
(A quick note - cork grease is an absolute must for all woodwind instruments EXCEPT the flute. Please for the love of all that is holy do not put cork grease on your flute. It will tarnish the joints and can cause them to get stuck together.)
Flute
How to Clean a Flute: DO NOT PUT CORK GREASE ON YOUR BABY.
Basic Flute Warmups
Oboe
How to Clean an Oboe
Basic Oboe Warmups
How Your Reeds Are Made: See why they’re so expensive now?
Clarinet
How to Clean a Bb Clarinet
How to Clean a Bass Clarinet
Basic and Advanced Clarinet Warmups
Bassoon
How to Clean a Bassoon
Bassoon Warmups
Saxophone
How to Clean a Saxophone
Alto Sax Warmups
Tenor Sax Warmups
Bari Sax Warmups
(Clear your spit valve regularly. Extra spit sloshing around in there will degrade your instrument over time. Besides, we can hear you gurgling and it’s not pleasant. Here’s how to clean an icky-sounding brass instrument.)
(French) Horn
Basic Horn Care: Horns need special attention because of their rotary valves. It’s important that they’re properly maintained.
A List of Horn Warmups
Trumpet
How to Clean a Trumpet
Trumpet Warmups
Trombone
How to Care for Bass and Tenor (regular) Trombones
How to Oil/Grease Your Slide
Low Brass Warmups & Maintenance
Baritone/Euphonium
Baritone & Euphonium Daily & Monthly Cleaning
Low Brass Warmups & Maintenance
Tuba
Cleaning a Tuba: If you have a rotary valve tuba, stop right there. Cleaning a rotary valve tuba the wrong way can damage it. Please see Basic Horn Care for how to maintain rotary valves. If you have a regular ol’ piston-valve tuba, see How to Clean a Trumpet.
Not sure what kind of tuba you have? Check here.
Low Brass Warmups & Maintenance
(If you’re having problems with your violin/viola/cello/bass, talk to your teacher or a luthier. Stringed instruments are delicate and can be damaged easily.)
For All Stringed Instruments:
Here’s all about rosin.
Instrument storage
Warming up
Got bridge problems?
Violin/Viola
No violin tips list would be complete without a link to TwoSet. Violas proceed at your own risk.
Violin & Viola Basic Maintenance
Violin Tuning: If you are a beginner, it’s usually not a good idea to tune using the pegs.
Viola Tuning: Again, beginners should not use pegs to tune.
A comparison of clefs
Cello
Cello Maintenance
How to Sit
Double Bass
How to take care of your monster of an instrument
Tips for Double Bass
For All Percussion
Percussion Tips
Timpani
Weird Timpani Facts
Tuning Tips
Choral Singing Tips
Learning to Sight Read
Basic Music Theory
How to Sing in a Group
thanks for tagging me!!!
3 ships:
Joe x Nicky from the old guard. I watched this movie and then made all of my friends watch it too. I just loved how woven into the story their relationship was. TLDR: I just really like good representation (and also historical fanfic (crusades!!! Literally any other period after 1100 and it isn’t an AU!!!))
Amy Pond x Rory Williams (do they have a ship name? I should probs find out). I just.... love the Ponds. So much. 11 was my first doctor and to this day they are my favourite companions and I love them both and i love their relationship
Tessa x Will or Tessa x Jem from The Infernal Devices. Both god tier ships. The Victorian setting.... the angst,,,,, the absolute unconditional love!!! Especially when they are older and all the kids just look at them and go yes,,, I want that.
Last movie I watched:
The corpse bride! It was really good actually I am a big fan
Last song I listened to:
Either Breathe from In the Heights or Mad Woman from Folklore. I am a big musicals person and also a Taylor Swift fan in amongst the rock and alternative stuff.
Currently watching: The mandalorian! I love the angsty mandalorian and his cute little baby. I’m about to start season two tonight!
Currently reading: Ysabel by GGK. Oo boo I am invested it has history and drama and suspense and throwback slang and also magic so yeah it contains a great many things I like!
Currently craving: either chocolate or human contact. It’s fine schools on Monday so I’ll get hugs off my friends then!
Rules: Tag 9 people who you want to know better/catch up with and then answer these questions. I was tagged by @hlmoorewrites (BTW, I can't wait to read your books)
3 Ships: Rory and Jess from Gilmore Girls. Look, I get the love for Dean but he was never smart enough for her and broke her heart three times; once because she didn't say "I love you" after 3 months and needed some time to sort through everything (kind of like she always does), once because of her feelings for Jess (and okay, I cant fault him for that) but the last time was because of his inferiority issues and I can't stand that. And teice it was in front of a ton of people! He wasn't a good boyfriend. And I hate that Lorelai thought he was because he helped her out so much. I hate that Rpry never saw him for what he was. I mean, even the whole fight between him and Jess was started by Dean. And his whole "I don't have to be nice anymore because I'm not with her but you can't do shit because you are" speech to Jess just made me want to watch Jess hit him. And Logan sucks in ways I don't have to explain. But Jess......he loved her. And yes, he hurt her while he was growing up, but he got better and he apologized and he stood there, beside her, as her friend every time. He helped her get her life back on track after Mitchum destroyed her. Hes got the same love of books, the same taste in music, the same quiet resolve, and he's just perfect for her.
Harry Dresden and Karrin Murphy and I will never forgive Jim Butcher for what he did. Ever.
Eliot Spencer and Damien Moreau from Leverage. Not for any good reasons. Only for the fact that they would be a great destructive force. And I really enjoy the idea of those two tearing apart the world together. I also get a small thrill from the thought of Eliot clawing his way out of hell. Its fun.
Last Song I listened To: Valerie by Ghost of the Robot. James Marsters can sing
Last Movie I watched: wow, you picked the best moment because I haven't wanted to watch anything but movies post gilmore girls. The last one was Riddick, as I ended that trilogy and following on the heels of the Fast and Furious Franchise (except parts 2-4, I couldn't care less for them, and if you're noticing a running theme here, its Vin Deisel. One of my favorite actors because realism be damned is what he does best)
Currently Watching: um......nothing. I just finished Riddick and hadn't gotten around to watching something else. I think I'm gonna re-watch Newsroom by Aaron Sorvino. I'm in the mood for feel good and quick witted.
Currently Reading: Rodham by Curtis Sittenfield, The Last Guardian by Eion Colfer, Harleen the comic book, Minion by L.A Banks and Revan. Im just......bouncing back and forth a lot.
Currently Craving: mental stimulation of a sort. I'm bored but on a mental plane. I wanna do something. Don't know what it is yet.
Tagging: @cattorneyatlaw @ace-feminist @breelandwalker @thevagaries @missmetal910 @catgirl9696 @elizabethpickett @sticksandstonesmaybreakmeblog @random-blog-i-cant-delete @gotmehookedonthekpop and anyone else who feels like it.
big tennant being, of course, georgia tennant, who continues to feed us all with content
this whole show is just a scheme made up by Big Tennant to sell more David Tennant
el, she / her welcome to my brain dumping ground, expect varying and frequent dumps of a large variety of fandoms, including some fics I'm working on and most likely plenty of cat photos
193 posts