constantly making airy offhand comments to my preferred younger son about how he’s next in line for the throne after his brother but he still hasn’t killed my detested firstborn for me. kids these days have no fucking initiative.

I keep sending them off on “boar hunts” together and wouldn’t you know? they keep coming back after with big smiles and boar heads and the unmistakable stench of brotherly camaraderie. what sick sad days are these!

i want to shake many young women and say you can grow in private. and what i mean by that is that you don’t have to publicly self-flagellate when you don’t know something or when you say something a little insensitive or whatever else. you don’t have to report your Bad Thoughts and Ignorance to the crowd who waits to judge you. you do not have to pay penance. you do not have to issue public statements. nothing more is gained from burying yourself in shame than you could gain by thinking “oh i don’t know about this” and looking it up real quick, or thinking “hm, that wasn’t how i want to behave, i’ll do different next time” and then moving on with your life. no need to choke yourself with it.

I LOVE COMPLEX DATED ADVERBS. Wherein. Heretofore. Thereon. Hereunto. Whereof. Hitherward. Hereinafter. How can you look at these words and not lose your mind. They're insane. I think I'm in love.

official linguistics post

Here's a gifted kid burnout secret:

"Just Do Your Best" doesn't mean "Give it all you've got every time" it means "Do what you have the energy for at any given time."

As former gifted kids, we know our best is frankly awesome. But our best in any one instance takes a LOT of energy. We can't do that every time. That's for the big projects, yeah? Nobody is expecting a science fair project out of us when the assignment is just to fill out this worksheet.

Life is like that. Doing our best in the everyday sense is not at all the same as doing our best in the pulling off an awesome grand deed sense. Conflating them is a fast track to burnout.

Growing up with school, we get used to the idea that 50% is an F, and forget that it's a lot easier to shore up that 50% F than the 0% F, if we need a C later. But we also forget that what we think will be 50%, because it feels like it's half of what we ourselves can do, when graded on the curve of what is actually expected from us, is usually more like 75%. So we get that C up front, which is good enough for most purposes.

So, if you're like me, and you're anticipating only being able to do a half-assed job, you think the emotional equivalent of "Why bother when I'll just get an F?"

The answer is "Because you'll actually get a C, and you can't get an A later without it."

Well, okay. The answer is actually:

"You're worth as much effort as you can do, regardless of how much effort you think you should be able to do."

But if you're anything like me, you have to work up to that one.

Don't underestimate the importance of small talk. For how much small talk gets trashed, socially it serves a purpose and has a lot of benefits, and people who enjoy small talk aren't shallow for it.

For many people, if you always want to jump straight to business or only want to have deep and serious conversations, this can (to some people) demonstrate a lack of boundaries, as some people are more private than others, and prefer to keep deep and serious conversations to those they know better rather than acquaintances.

There is nothing boring, shallow, or unreasonable about wanting to get to know someone better before having a deep and serious conversation with them. If anything, it can demonstrate a sense of boundaries to want to know someone better before seeing if they'd be someone safe and enjoyable to have deeper and more serious conversations with.

"Small talk" can serve as an important foundation or tool for getting to know someone better before you jump into the deeper and more serious topics.

Besides, not everyone finds topics deemed "small talk" boring or unworthy of their time. Some people genuinely find the weather interesting and think it's fun to talk about it.

Small talk is companion calls for humans.

𝙵𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝟽, 𝟷𝟿𝟷𝟻 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚒𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝙾𝚏 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚣 𝙺𝚊𝚏𝚔𝚊, 𝟷𝟿𝟷𝟺-𝟷𝟿𝟸𝟹

stannis baratheon in his post-blackwater depression era is so relatable. like he summons davos from the dungeons to make him hand of the king when it’s already night. i too put off tasks throughout the entire day and then try to do everything at 9 pm so i don’t feel like i wasted another day

I will never, I repeat, NEVER, shut up about jealous Arthur. That man is so deeply in love with Merlin and in constant fear for his safety that anyone who even goes near Merlin he’s glaring at. Like possessive Arthur is truly my kryptonite. I love them.

a rotund figure clutching a sweet treat

Environmental storytelling is my favorite

op turned off reblogs but this needs to be shared

my evil yuri. my evil yuri that fucking sucks

oh hey sorry I’ve been distant lately…. I’ve been really busy having a brain that is bad

i would make such a beautiful dead bird on the sidewalk

starting a collection. little brown things