LANA DEL REY Coachella 2024

Evening dress by the House of Worth, c.1880. From the "Fashioned by Sargent" exhibit at the MFA Boston, October 2023

photo by me (@edwardian-girl-next-door)

Fic Commissions for Hurricane Relief

Hi friends! So, I've never done anything like this before, but I've seen plenty of fic writers/artists on Tumblr and beyond offer commissions and prompt-fills as a fundraising venture. Maybe no one will be interested, and that's totally fine! But if you've enjoyed any of my fics in the past and have (literally) a dollar to spare, I invite you to keep reading. :)

If you're not from the United States like I am, you might not have heard as much about it, but the southeastern U.S. was just hit with the deadliest mainland hurricane since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Given the recent devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, I wanted to offer up my own fic-writing abilities for the cause. I personally donated to BeLoved Asheville, a local 501(c)(3) non-profit which was recommended to me by @carolinawrenn, a member of the fandom who's been personally affected by the Hurricane (e.g., literally has no running water at the moment, just like many thousands of others in the region). The American Red Cross is also taking donations for Hurricane Helene relief specifically.

If you're looking for a way to help out and receive some sweet sweet kanej content at the same time, here's what I'm proposing:

If you email me a receipt of your donation to BeLoved Asheville or the Red Cross, I'll write a Six of Crows drabble or fic of your choosing with the following minimum lengths (all dollar amounts in USD - I am happy to look up the conversion rates if you donate in another currency though, and I would round up to the nearest dollar in that case):

$1-5 donation: 100-word drabble

$6-20 donation: 500-word ficlet

$21-50 donation: 1,000-word fic

$51-99 donation: 2,000-word fic

$100+ donation: 3,000-word (or longer, who knows?) fic

If you've read any of my fics, you know that I primarily write kanej, but I'm willing to try my hand at any of the canon ships (e.g., wesper or helnik) and/or general, non-romance fic.

Please consider donating! I would be THRILLED if I got a bunch of $1 donations and had to write a bunch of 100-word drabbles. Every little bit counts. <3

If you're interested in participating, please submit to this form: https://forms.gle/kDG16K2Gr1TBEQFx6

And if you have ANY questions or concerns, feel free to reply below or message/ask me directly. :)

my shayla… come back to me

Blood Meridian by violet_persephone

Chapter 4: July Heatwaves in Nebraska

“I told you. I told you it was part of the job. What did you think was going to happen, Inej? I didn’t take you from the Menagerie so we could all be one happy fucking family, did I? I wanted you to be dangerous. You were, and now you’re whining about it.”

“And I told you that I didn’t want to kill innocent people!”

“Then why did you?”

“He was about to kill you!” Inej cries, and springs to her feet. Her face is flushed, from crying or from anger, Kaz isn’t sure.

“Inej, don’t listen to him,” Nina spits over Jesper’s unconscious body. “Kaz is just a bastard. Don’t listen to him. Kaz, leave her alone.”

“Would you rather have been killed?” Inej asks, her palms outstretched, as if Kaz can package up the answer and place it in her hands. “Would you rather have been killed than have me cry?”

Naomi for Blumarine ss1993

If nothing else, as a historian every time I get scared at the state of the world I have to remind myself that "uninteresting times" is a myth.

The world has always been in the throes of chaos and violence and fear, just in different ways and to different degrees. The anxieties of the past are no less real than our own, and we can learn from them. Normality and peace are fleeting, but we can always strive to increase those moments. We have to keep hoping and working for a better future. It's all we have. We may not succeed, but if we don't try, what are we living for?

am i the girl that you dream of?

"what would it be like, I wondered, to live with that heightened sensitivity of the lives given for ours? To consider the tree in the Kleenex, the algae in the toothpaste, the oaks in the floor, the grapes in the wine; to follow back the thread of life in everything and pay it respect? Once you start, it's hard to stop, and you begin to feel yourself awash in gifts."

-Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

oh, the wonderful feeling of writing after not doing so for a while and feeling like you are the worst writer to ever exist. when, in reality, you're simply out of practice and just need to be patient with yourself. the wonders of being a writer.

sometimes i feel like writing is a grill and i am the meat.