Little Things That I Try To Do To Get More Out Of My Clothes

I was discussing with a friend about the translation choice for The Fellowship of the Ring in French. In the first translation, the translator Francis Ledoux uses ‘communauté’ for ‘fellowship’, in the meaning of ‘a group of people united by a common goal or shared traditions’*. This is almost exactly the same definition the online Cambridge dictionary** gives for ‘fellowship’. However, ‘fellowship’ has another meaning, a little outdated, that keeps the idea of a shared goal or interest but with the added nuance of a bond of friendship formed over this goal.

And that’s where the new French translation comes in, with the title La Fraternité de l’Anneau instead of La Communauté de l’Anneau. Daniel Lauzon chose ‘fraternité’ for fellowship, meaning ‘the bond between people within a same group, working toward a same goal’*** There is an outdated and specific use for ‘fraternité’ in the context of a medieval, feudal society, to design the bond between knights who swore to protect each other in battle and always fight for the same cause. And knowing just how much Tolkien was influenced by the Middle Ages for his universe, this seemingly trivial difference of translation has me foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog. Because it means the translator, Daniel Lauzon in this case, really took the time to study and look for the exact nuance of a word to best render the idea of The Fellowship of the Ring in the translated title of the book. This is so in line with Tolkien’s love for languages and words, I am over the moon.

There is a big debate amongst French speaking Tolkien fans about old vs new translation but I am a hardcore defender of Daniel Lauzon’s translations of The Lord of the Rings because it’s the one that made me fall in love with Tolkien’s style and poetry even though it was not the original version, and that’s a feat. It’s not perfect, no translation is ever perfect, but it had this feeling of deliberate choice for each word to best render the multiple meanings of a sentence or poem. Francis Ledoux’s translation feels too dry and artificial to me, even though I love how he translated Strider by Grand-Pas, or ‘Big-Steps’

* https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/communaut%C3%A9/17551

** https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/fellowship

*** https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/fraternit%C3%A9/35113

“I can’t be vegan, I love cheese”

Dairy industry is as evil as meat. No less harm for animals. Does it look natural that calf can’t drink milk so you can taste your piece of cheese? 

GO VEGAN. 

I think the best way to describe my fashion style is ‘confused time-traveller who learned 21st century fashion by watching fantasy movies’.

I feel absolutely fabulous wearing a swooshing cape and poofy skirts to walk around town by the way.

squid pillow squid piLLOW SQUID PILLOW

Photographer Gunarto Song captured a remarkable photo of a meteor falling “into” a volcano ( Mount Merapi, the most active volcano in Indonesia), and the resulting shot looks like there’s a green beam of light shooting up from the crater. (SOURCE)

Soo did y'all know you can get a soldering iron for 8 bucks? I didn't. I do now. I'm about to burn the shit out of myself.

its time for the tantrum hole

Can I interest you in an AU where Aizawa tries to woo Mic with horrible pickup lines from the internet, because he has no idea how else to do it? And mic thinks aizawa figured out his crush and is teasing him? Imagine he has a list of them and every so often he’ll bust one out like Is there an airport nearby, or was that my heart taking off? Completely deadpan.

Mic kinda half-laughs sometimes but once in a while he shoots one back in an attempt to defend himself. Aizawa considers this progress

Eventually Kayama pulls him aside like as hilarious as it is to watch you roast him, I think you’re starting to hurt his feelings.

Aizawa:

Like he thought they were really getting somewhere and Mic is just weathering the storm.

Aizawa has to try something else, since the pickup lines didn’t work. So he goes to the card store and gets the biggest, cheesiest I LOVE YOU bear in the whole place. The cashier asks him if he would like to add an audio message to the bear, and he says he would. Now the bear says “I love you beary much” in aizawa’s expressionless voice whenever you squeeze it.

Hizashi sleeps with it every night, even though he’s still not sure if Aizawa is making fun of him. but he took the bear so aizawa thinks he’s batting a thousand. Hizashi is a lot of work to win over but aizawa is used to working hard. It’s worth it. Especially when he ends up in Mic’s room for something or other and sees the bear on the bed - he’s in cloud freaking 9 because!! Success!! Meanwhile Mic is dying of mortification and praying for a villain with a murder quirk to show up and put him out of his misery. Aizawa thinks they’re dating now. The bear has been accepted.

Now aizawa has to google “how to be a good boyfriend.”

So Hizashi starts walking into the apartment after a long day of radio stuff and patrols to find Aizawa is just... standing in the dark doorway. Waiting. “Tell me about your day” he demands, in the same tone he uses to interrogate criminals as Mic shrieks and drops all his stuff. He can’t figure out what it is Shouta thinks he did, and if he did do it, and there’s... something on the table. It looks like it was food once, before the war.

“I made dinner” says Aizawa, from behind him. The kitchen is not actively on fire but all the windows are open and a suspicious smokiness lingers. It’s the middle of winter. There is snow in the apartment.

“That was... so thoughtful of you...” Mic says, putting his jacket back on.

Aizawa nods. Date night is a success. Another flawless victory, thanks to the internet. He had tried to cook along with a YouTube video but didn’t understand some parts were cut out, to save time. Hizashi eats it anyway. This is what love is.

Aizawa had planned for them to watch a movie after dinner but it takes six hours to clean the kitchen. Most of the pots are unsalvageable. He wanted to make chocolate covered strawberries, but they were out of season. So dessert is one of those cans of mandarin orange slices with Hershey’s syrup poured into it. Then Aizawa tried to light it on fire, for fanciness. It didn’t burn.

It’s still freezing cold in the apartment at bedtime, so Mic offers to share his bed so they can keep warm. “Is that moving too fast?” Aizawa asks. He really wants to, but Hizashi has been so slow to win over, he doesn’t want to blow it by rushing.

Hizashi thinks he’s making fun of him again. “I’m not going to jump you in your sleep Shouta,” he grumbles, and aizawa nods. So it’s like that then. He makes sure to keep six inches between them, as a buffer. The perfect end to the perfect date. He’s amazing at this.

Aizawa also sets phone alarms, so he remembers to do things like Text Hizashi To Ask About His Day. Hizashi has to get used to his 3pm "what are you doing" text from aizawa. There are no follow up questions.

One of the things on the list of good boyfriend things to do was "compliment your partner!" so Aizawa made a list of compliments to use and he texts mic one per day.

"You keep the bathroom very neat"

"You always remember the name of the takeout place"

"You're very punctual"

Hizashi, sobbing: I don't understand what's happening

The best part is that Hizashi already does all the good boyfriend things, so Aizawa thinks this relationship is going great!! He's a very lucky man.

Eventually, Mic just gets pushed too far. Aizawa's daily 5pm compliment text was "you look handsome today" and Hizashi just fucking snaps. He leaves work early and rushes home. Aizawa is in the kitchen trying to figure out how to cook a stir fry. After they finish with the fire extinguisher, Mic throws it aside and says "I can't take it anymore" and full on dips Aizawa into a kiss.

"Finally," they both say afterwards. They think they mean the same thing, but they do not.

I recently saw a post lamenting how expensive sewing as a hobby is, which has been nagging me all day and of course now I can’t find it anymore.

It is, in fact, quite an extensive hobby and you can get bogged down by the capitalism monster thinking you need to buy a ton of things right away. You don’t! I’ve been sewing most of my life and have been slowly collecting tools and things as I need them but you can start off real small! Here are some random tips from me to you:

Sewing patterns: there are butt loads of free patterns all over the internet. Check out Mood patterns, Peppermint magazine, and your local library for the pattern bind up books if you’re lucky. However, indie patterns are totally worth the price, especially for beginners. They tend to have great instructions and better fit than the paper patterns you can find in stores and they come from people with a real passion for sewing. If you’re going more historical costuming, some of the free patterns can be finagled, but your best bet (besides drafting) is to purchase patterns depending on your era, just avoid Sense and Sensibility patterns. You can also find vintage patterns, but the instructions and fit are a tad different than you may be used to, especially for beginners. Shameless plug anyway for my vintage pattern shop.

Fabric: don’t be scared of your thrift store! Ive found lengths of fabric a couple times, but I always check for sheets and tablecloths that I like the look and feel of. You can get natural fibers wayyyy cheaper this way and tho it’s an extra step you can dye or overdye to get the color you want. The black fabric in this stack was faded so I dyed it darker black with Rit and the yellow I dyed with marigolds from my garden.

Notions/random bits and bobs: ask your friends and family! Sewing used to be basically ubiquitous and has gone out of style so as a result there are more vintage sewing supplies in the world than you could ever want and usually people hold on to them until they can find a good home. I’ve gotten so much random bullshit from my mom and grandmas and friends just by announcing that I love to sew. Obvi don’t be rude or conspiratorial, but esp older folks love to share their love of the craft.

Machine: cheapest is to inherit one, but you can usually find some older models at thrift stores or on Craigslist/fb marketplace. I found my serger for a decent discount from a company that refurbishes sewing machines.

I hope this helps anyone who is interested in sewing but scared of the starting costs. It’s a bit of a learning and cost curve, but the internet has helped break that down so much.

based on that one scene from parks and rec