mollyringle

[mollyringle]

The two currently existing Eidolonia books are together at last! My print copies of Ballad for Jasmine Town have arrived, and they look gorgeous next to their buddies (Lava Red Feather Blue and the faery artwork of Brian Froud).

The arrival of print copies, in the past, has SOMETIMES meant that online booksellers will start shipping the paperback before its official release date (June 4, 2024, in the case of Ballad for Jasmine Town) if you order it now. We aren't big-name enough to stop them. And hey, honestly, if you want it now and you get it now, I'm happy with that, so give it a try.

#brian froud #ballad for jasmine town #lava red feather blue #eidolonia #queer fantasy #urban fantasy #fae #witches #faeries #books #2024 books

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sorry i came back wrong do you still wanna hit it

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i watched My Neighbor Totoro for the first time, here's my chronological viewing experience:

woo-hoo! dusty old japanese house with japanese architectural details aplenty

these kids got some ENERGY my goodness

family dynamic's adorable. peak quality dad humor

kids: our house is haunted. parents: that's so cool!

hell yeah, wrinkled old lady rep. we need more friendly old women with potato faces and warts like storybook witches. the backbone of society, these ladies

Plot Summary: Small Child Bothers Local Wildlife

sacred tree sacred tree sacred tree

Introducing Totoro! nobody said this fucker's got TEETH???

Uh-Oh! Inadequate Parental Supervision Detected

(you misplaced your four year old! you're not supposed to do that)

4-year-old: i met a magic forest spirit. dad: oh shit fr?

4-year-old: *angrily hugs sister* missed u bitch

this small child has a smile like a toad. like a really really cute toad. like the cutest toad in all existence. i love her she's perfection please just let this child be happy

rice paddies are so pretty....so back breaking....rice is such a prissy crop

*my crush is stranded in a rainstorm* takethisumbrellait'syoursnowBYE *runs away in panic im so good at flirting*

Giant Chinchilla Learns To Hold Umbrella, Is Fucking Delighted By Experience

take this, it will help you on your quest! *hands u trail mix wrapped in a leaf*

LO-FI HIP HOP STUDY LIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

crouching down to peer at dirt--A++ top notch foundational childhood experience

mom has a big ass forehead

honey! the chinchillas are performing Rituals in the backyard again

help yeah let's jack and the bean stalk this shit

huh so we're all just climbing aboard the giant chinchilla's tiddies now ok

class trip!

the pure adrenaline of Vegetable Gardening

no! the small child is crying! she is bawling her eyes out. no no no. i can't cope with this. emotionally i cannot cope 🥺🥺🥺

i've only had Mei one hour but if anything happens to her i will raze this earth and everyone on it

please someone make this small child smile again

oh no the tall child is crying too

i can't take this. my heart can't take this.

i need a drink

small child running determined to deliver magic veggies to the hospital. this kid is my hero

she is also unsupervised. so, so unsupervised

babe you are FOUR

godDAMMIT ghibli, you cannot give me watercolor sunsets while a small child is missing. u are killing me. my heart is giving out. this is me, experiencing heart failure.

Totoro to the rescue!

no wait CATBUS to the rescue!

i admit i initially thought the cat was a creep. alice in wonderland prejudiced me. i have revised my notions of smiling cats

i've decided the cat is a metaphor for the magic of a robust public transport system

MEI'S OKAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and so is mom. she's a lovely lady im sorry for what i said about her forehead. it's a noble forehead.

happy ending YES bitch!!!!!!

ok. ok ok ok. that was magical.

(as a first-time adult viewer i was worried i wouldn't be able to Access the Magic. but i could and i did and it was incredible. that was culture. that was ART. joy distilled into animated form. holy rites of childhood. i understand now. how glorious, this world we grow out of. how full of marvels. i'm going outside to smell grass and sun and get dirt under my fingernails. miraculous.)

[mollyringle]

A thing I just said elsewhere, and to which I will not be hearing counterarguments: I copyedit and proofread as part of my job, and I HATE when people correct others' grammar/spelling online without being asked to. My clients have included people with dyslexia, brain injuries, vision impairment, or recent major stresses in their life, as well as people whose first language isn't English. You just do not know for sure. Judging them for a typo is not a good look. To the self-appointed grammar cops I say: if you're so good at proofreading, get paid for it. Don't just give it away for free. (Also, nothing like being assigned a big long document in which you HAVE to find and mark all the errors, by a certain deadline, to cure you of your enthusiasm for doing that kind of stuff in your free time.)

#grammar cops #grammar police #prescriptivism #grammar #spelling #be kind #don't be a dick #editing

[mollyringle]

Lava Red Feather Blue: the perfume list

(I mention in the afterword of Lava Red Feather Blue that I can recommend perfumes to go with those described in the book. For my fellow perfumistas out there, here is that list, which is also on my website and is subject to change as I think of more.) For all of the scents listed here, or for any perfume at all, I highly recommend starting with a sample and not springing for a blind buy of a full bottle. Scents vary a great deal on each person’s skin, and to each person’s nose, and should be test-driven before one commits to a larger purchase. Some reliable sites where I’ve bought perfume samples include Luckyscent, Surrender to Chance, Olfactif, and The Perfumed Court. For Solstice Scents fragrances, though, you’ll likely only find them at the Solstice Scents site itself.

If you know of a perfume you think would fit well into this list, let me know! We can keep adding to the list. True perfume fanatics always want to try more scents!

Sia Fia’s realm: for Silver and Lunacy, described as island-harvested rose, ylang-ylang, sandalwood, patchouli, incense, musk, and honey:

One of the top contenders that comes to mind for me is Absolue Pour le Soir by Maison Francis Kurkdjian…but it’s been discontinued! If you CAN find any to sample, I warn you that a fair number of people who smell it think it’s disgusting. The rest of us, however, find it highly sexy. This is often the case with the most carnal scents! MFK describes its notes as rose honey from Bulgaria, incense absolute, cumin, benzoin from Siam, and sandalwood.

Another possibility I love, heavy on the honey, is Bee by Zoologist Perfumes. It starts out like a freshly opened jar of orange blossom honey, then deepens into facets of mimosa, benzoin, sandalwood, incense, ginger, heliotrope, labdanum, tonka, and musk.

Yet another, more floral and hay-like but still rich with honey and carnality, is Tabac Tabou by Parfum d’Empire, which is advertised as having notes of immortelle, tobacco, narcissus, honey, grass, and musk.

If you want to go old-school carnal, look on eBay for a vintage bottle of Bal a Versailles by Jean Desprez. It’s usually easy to find, and is a yummy, powdery concoction of civet, resins, balsam, amber, vanilla, musk, sandalwood, orris root, rose, orange blossom, jasmine, ylang-ylang, and more.

For old-school carnal on the macho side, I love Kouros by Yves Saint Laurent (white bottle, not Body Kouros in the black bottle). A small dab will do—it’s potent! On my skin it’s both shower-clean and sexy-dirty, a mix I love. It’s got civet, honey, patchouli, aldehydes, leather, carnation, coriander, musk, oakmoss, artemisia, and other spices and florals.

And one more beauty, which is less about the honey and more about the rose, but still has a very “sexy boudoir” feel, is Salome by Papillon, a huge fan favorite in the indie perfume fandom, featuring jasmine, musks, Turkish rose, carnation, cumin, mosses, and tobacco.

Arlanuk’s realm: for Hunter’s Night, described as earth, stone, oakmoss, island redwood, cedar, vetiver, and a hint of wood smoke:

I suggest Runestone by Solstice Scents, which, according to the fragrance creator, contains aged patchouli, dirt, oakmoss, cedar, muhuhu, violet leaf absolute, leaves, vetiver, sandalwood, cypress, spruce, pine and very faint hints of lavender absolute, rosewood, rosemary, hinoki, spikenard and more. It has that “potting soil” feel that comes with patchouli, but is nicely tempered by greenery and stone, and when I smelled it, I thought, “This is what the forest in the fae realm smells like.”

Another good one worth trying is Fille en Aiguilles by Serge Lutens, as a tribute to the pines that delineate Arlanuk’s territory. Its notes are pine needles, vetiver, sugary sap, laurel, fir balsam, frankincense, candied fruit, and spice.

Vowri’s realm: for Melancholia, notes of cold flowers in rain, iris, lilac, and the sadness of vintage perfume on old clothes:

Clearly the ideal choice here is a vintage perfume, especially the mega-classic L’Heure Bleue by Guerlain. Guerlain describes it as containing aniseed, bergamot, carnation, neroli, iris, violet, vanilla, benzoin, and tonka beans, but to the perfumistas of the world it is famous for its melancholy feel. Its name, after all, means “the blue hour.”

See also Après l'Ondée from the same house, which has similar notes to L’Heure Bleue but with more of a feel of rain on a garden—again, as its name suggests.

Another lovely vintage-based scent, which in my opinion would fit the bill for this section, is Pourpre d’Automne by Maison Violet. It has cool violet and iris at center stage, supported by rose, plum, peach, musk, benzoin, and oakmoss, all with an early-1900s powdery cosmetic atmosphere.

For the quest in general:

I’d feel remiss if I didn’t include Enchanted Forest by The Vagabond Prince. I mean, could its name get any more fitting? But its actual scent is ideal too, a chilly forest smell, mysterious and lovely and fairy-tale-ready, featuring blackcurrant, fir, red wine, wet green branches, pine needles, woods, and mosses.

Dryad by Papillon is another beautiful take on an enchanted forest, perhaps one in late summer, full of warm golden sunlight between the trees. It has notes of galbanum, bergamot, narcissus, clary sage, orris root, oakmoss, fruits, herbs, and vetiver.

Larkin remembers walking through the lemon orchard at the palace with his lover, back in the late 1700s. And citrus blossom scents were indeed popular in that century, in the perfumes of that time. (Perfume options were more limited then in general, as chemistry practices weren’t nearly as advanced as they are now—but on Eidolonia, who knows?) Therefore I think for nostalgia reasons he might like Fleurs de Citronnier by Serge Lutens, a lovely, gentle lemon blossom scent that also includes neroli, tuberose, and musk.

Larkin notices Merrick (and his car) smelling of leather and sweet spice early in their acquaintance. We can assume this is a Mirage Isle Perfumes scent he and Cassidy created. I haven’t given it a name, but I had in mind something like Cuir Ottoman by Parfum d’Empire. It’s a deliciously smooth, sweet leather scent, which also includes incense, jasmine, iris, benzoin, balsams, and resin.

#perfumes #fragrance #fraghead #books #lava red feather blue

[mollyringle]

The moon dressed as Saturn.

[mollyringle]

Gonna need yall to stop putting Biden is Just As Bad propaganda on my dash. Had to unfollow someone because I don’t want to a start a fight with them over it, but I’m about to bite the next person who puts that shit in front of me.

If you don’t like Biden, vote in your god damn local and mid term elections for third party or further left candidates so that we get better democratic candidates for future elections. But this one is already fucking decided, and I’m NOT ending up under a Trump led dictatorship because yall value protecting your personal sense of moral purity over the collective good. Whether it offends your personal morals to vote for Biden is IRRELEVANT in the face of the alternative.

This isn’t a lesser of two evils situation. One guy sucks. The other guy is LITERALLY PLANNING TO OVERTHROW OUR DEMOCRACY AND INSTALL HIMSELF AS A PUTIN STYLE DICTATOR.

PLEASE look up Project 2025 and stop acting like abstaining is some kind of personal ethical decision!

[mollyringle]

Guys. I can feel it already. THIS is the year. This is the year that Jonathan Harker will go on his business trip with no issue. Just a lovely train ride through Europe where he collects paprika recipies for Mina, meets some friendly, living people looking to buy properties in England, and then returns home safely.

Free him from the time loop.

[mollyringle]

”Jane Eyre is awful; it’s creepy and messed up and wrong!” Yeah, because it’s a GOTHIC romance, not a vanilla romance. That’s how they work and it’s okay if you’re into that.

I feel like some people need to relearn Genre Expectations... "Man, this tragedy sucks!!! Why didn't they just do XYZ, then everything could have ended happily!!" well, then it wouldn't be a tragedy, would it. "Man, this lighthearted teen romcom is terrible, it's so sappy and unrealistic!!" Well, yeah. If it had been gritty and dark, it wouldn't have been a lighthearted romcom, would it. Is the writing actually bad or are you just trying to order a milkshake from a Home Depot

[mollyringle]

Ran across this artwork, and I’ve got to say, Dante looks about as excited to share his writing as I (an introvert with imposter syndrome) usually feel about marketing mine. 😂 (Art: La commedia illumina Firenze by Domenico di Michelino, 1465.)

#dante #writers #introverts #book marketing #artwork

[mollyringle]

So we all know that Tumblr is US-centric. But to what degree? (and can we skew the results of this poll by posting it at a time where they should be asleep?)

Reblog to increase sample size!

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i love six o clock because the clock looks so stupid. "|" like get real

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Here it is: Your daily reminder to Click for Palestine!

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I suspect the youngsters are lumping us (Gen X) in with Boomers. But there is a HUGE difference.

I hope this has helped clarify.

[Gen Z and younger: "What show is that? idk what that is"]

Gen X: [raises hand] Can... can we also maybe not get worked to death?

#office space #gen x #gen x are not boomers

[mollyringle]

I rarely read academic articles just because I’m interested in the topic (I'm usually editing them because they hired me to), but today I did read such a one. You can read it here.*

The authors essentially say: In imagining futures in fiction, we need more examples of positive outcomes—where humankind has successfully dismantled capitalism, patriarchy, colonialism, etc.—not just visions of dystopias where we’re all f**ked. They don’t quite say it that way, but that is my very professional summary.

And I completely agree! The countless stories of apocalyptic sci-fi have done sufficient work of warning us all about the path we’re on, thank you very much, but we also need some helpful visions of better places we could end up, so we can start designing how to get there. *Proper citation: Houlden, S., Veletsianos, G. Impossible Dreaming: On Speculative Education Fiction and Hopeful Learning Futures. Postdigit Sci Educ 5, 605–622 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-022-00348-7

#hopepunk #solarpunk #futurism #fiction #dystopia #post apocalyptic #down with capitalism #dismantle the system #sci fi #sci fi and fantasy #science fiction

[mollyringle]

This is the wholesomeness you need today.

[mollyringle]

we all must get weirder and more queer. i am completely serious and genuine and this is urgent. please get weirder and gayer now. if you see me acting weird and gay mind your business a little bit.