Reblog to open a rail line from your blog to the person you reblogged this from

our beautiful rail line... (so far)

I love this site

like a quarter of the railway

One of my favorite things about learning about traditional textiles is the little ghosts they left in the language. Of course the ghosts are there, now that I know to look for them. Once upon a time, half the population spent a majority of their day making textiles. Spinning, at the very least, has been a part of humanity since the Neanderthals. That kind of knowledge doesn't just disappear.

A heckle was a device with sharp metal spikes, and people drag flax through the spikes to separate out the fibers from the chaff. When you say someone heckled a performer, you think you are being literal but you're speaking in an ancient metaphor.

When my grandpa says "spinning yarns" to mean telling stories, he knows that one's not quite literal, but its vividness is lost to him. There is no image in his mind of rhythm, muscle memory, and the subtle twist that aligns clouds of fibers into a single, strong cord.

When a fanfic writer describes someone carding their fingers through someone's hair, that's the most discordant in my mind. Carding is rough, and quick, and sometimes messy (my wool is full of debris, even after lots of washing). The teeth of my cards are densely packed and scratchy. But maybe that's my error, not the writer's. Before cards were invented, wool was combed with wide-toothed combs, and sometimes, in point of fact, with fingers. The verb "to card" (from Middle English) may actually be older than the tools I use, archaic as they are. And I say may, because I can't find a definitive history. People forget, even when the language remembers.

official linguistics post

Another name for a heckle is a hackle - when your pet's back fur stands up in a ridge, that's another metaphor, because someone once thought that it looked like the sharp comb they used on flax.

A distaff is a tool for holding unprocessed fiber out of your way while you spin; the ancient Greeks saw it as the feminine counterpart of the spear, and you still hear the phrases "distaff counterpart" or "distaff line" to mean "female/feminine equivalent of a male thing."

The tufts of flax left over after heckling, little broken bits too short to be worth spinning, are called tow. If you've ever seen someone with blonde hair called "tow-headed," it's the same as calling blond hair "flaxen" - pale gold like unbleached linen.

OH that makes so much more sense, when I was a kid I always thought a distaff must be a bowl of some kind because that's how northern European gendered imagery works

S3 is obviously the jonelias season, as far as TMA goes, so much so they weren't allowed to have more than one scene per season afterwards cause the chemistry was burning our ears (at least that's what I assume is the very real and concrete and logical discussion that happened in the recording room), but that can't stop me from constantly remembering the crumbs we got afterwards and how insane they were

Likes to charge reblogs to FUCKING cast

hey guys we can all agree its like, incredibly sad and fucked up when a trans man feels like he has to apologize for being a man, right. like even jokingly. it’s very concerning that people have created an environment where a trans person is expected to be apologetic about their identity, right.

“sorry to add another straight white male to the world 😔” no brother I’m glad you exist. being able to live your life as YOU is something you had to and will continue to fight for and we can’t afford to be apologetic about it. trans existence is always a celebration.

This was the way I felt back when I was transitioning and it sucked. TERF-ass talking points about trans man were rife Everywhere online to me then. I used to joke about it felt like climbing into a burning trash can on purpose.

And you know what. Not only was it miserable, it's fucking bullshit. Being a man is a wonderful and beautiful thing to be. Being a man ain't inherently Evil or Bad. We shouldn't be out here inventing binary essentially 2: It's Reversed Now So It's Good Actually.

Being a mans beautiful. Bein' masc rules. You got folk in this world I promise will gas you up and celebrate you livin', and folks who make you feel cruddy about it aint worth apologizin' to.

Trans men are proof that there's nothing wrong with men, it's a specific social dynamic that causes all these problems

when e.e. cummings said “i’ll live my life if it kills me”

when andrea gibson said “i suppose i love this life, in spite of my clenched fist.” & when ellen bass said “to love life, to love it even when you have no stomach for it”

when james baldwin said, “this is why one must say yes to life and embrace it wherever it is found-and it is found in terrible places; nevertheless, there it is;”

hana-rawhiti maipi-clarke leads te paati maori, the green party, the labour party and the public gallery in a haka, shutting down parliament before the vote for the treaty principles bill (1st reading) can be completed

Okay the other video that's going around focuses appropriately on her and has much better cinematography but knowing there is a Disgruntled Old White Man presiding definitely enhances my enjoyment

“We are here, and this is now.” Constable Visit, a strict believer in the Omnian religion, occasionally quoted that from their holy book. Vimes understood it to mean, in less exalted copper speak, that you have to do the job that is in front of you.

--Terry Pratchett, Night Watch

"It shouldn't be like this."

"There isn't a way things should be. There's just what happens, and what we do."

--Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

There's just what happens, and what we do.

It is 14 Nov 2024.

Start the party, the AO3 is turning 15 today!

Join our anniversary celebrations with our 15 day Trivia Game and Prompts challenge. Who knows – you might end up winning a cool prize!

How well do you really know AO3? It’s more than just a place for your favorite fanworks with its rich history, unique features and its commitment to preserve fan culture. Ready to test your AO3 knowledge? Join our 15-day AO3 Trivia Game!

Trivia Game – How It Works Starting today, we’ll post one trivia question a day for the next 15 days. Collect your answers and submit to the google form for that day — we’ll do a random draw from the highest scorers, and winners will get exclusive AO3 merch!

Prompts Challenge for Creators We’ve got something for all the creators, too! Every day, we’ll post a new prompt as part of the AO3 Prompts Challenge.

You don’t have to complete every prompt – just pick the ones that inspire you. When you’re ready, share your creations and add them to our AO3 anniversary collection and join the party!

Whether you’re here for the trivia, the prompts, or neither — thank you for being with us on our fifteenth anniversary. Happy 15th!

the lovely woman who owned kabosu, the shiba known as doge, should get to take a point blank shot at elon musk with the doohickey that killed shinzo abe

If there are places you've lived but don't remember (e.g. when you were a baby), you can include those if you wish to.

–

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

happy new year jews in my phone

i wish tumblr would let you append a little memo when you blocked someone so i could remember if i brought the hammer down for virulent transphobia or for having slightly too annoying of an opinion on a day when i was hungover

They should have a timeout option

Relatable, a bop, and instructive of how to pronounce "boatswain"

Watch the full episode on Dropout

god bless anyone who comments on ao3