darlingbookworm

[darlingbookworm]

So I was writing about another Merlin au, realized it was gonna be pretty long because when I write, I'm also thinking about the au, so I'm also filling in a few blanks, in terms of details-

Anyway, here's my au in summary:

Balinor comes back/stays with Hunith

Balinor at one point kills Cenred, rules (that I made up) of Essetir, you kill the King, you are the new King

Essetir becomes the new kingdom for people with magic, at first just a refugee/sanctuary

Merlin is genderfluid (cuz fuck it, I'm projecting my desires onto him)

Mostly goes by Emrys as his title/name, unless he's making friends, then he's Merlin: unless he's lowkey trying to mess with people, then he'll introduce himself as his own sister, or that the new King Balinor has a daughter, not a son (leads to rumors, and nobody able to confirm who the heir is)

Merlin goes to Camelot, on behalf of his father, as a representative of this new kingdom of magic, and as technical King of the druids and god/physically embodiment of magic

Lowkey strong arms his way into meetings, and also still ends up being part of Arthur's council, meanwhile also collecting knights

And of course, slow burn Merthur :)

[darlingbookworm]

Royal council meeting

aka Merlin is the boss

Lord: …and that’s why I think we should increase taxes, your majesty :))

Merlin, sitting on the floor behind arthur polishing his boots, not even looking up: veto

Lord: your majesty, your servant is speaking out of turn again ://

King Arthur: nah, merlin gets three vetos per meeting and he just vetoed your proposal <3 Next!

[darlingbookworm]

The Tears of Emrys

[darlingbookworm]

three ravens

[darlingbookworm]

[darlingbookworm]

[darlingbookworm]

About Gaza Funds

[darlingbookworm]

Congrats once again to @zohrankmamdani on his victory last night. His NYC mayoral primary win should be a lesson to those in the Democratic Party. There is no middle ground between a democracy of the people and an oligarchy.

[darlingbookworm]

Some good news. #ZohranMamdani

Establishment Dems take heed.

[darlingbookworm]

now that the actual pattern is done, i wanted to drop my mountain of work in progress sketches/plans for the cordiform collection over here.

a small fun fact about me: i love vampires. this collection accidentally became very vampy for me - im even planning on theming the photoshoot around it. the "creature of the blood" items spawned from that vibe actually! (side note, if these do well i also want to make "creature of the night" variants in black chiffon with moonflowers and a bat wing shaped collar)

some planned items arent here at the moment - notably a new cloak design, but in rich dark velvets.

let me know what you guys are vibing with <3

[darlingbookworm]

Transplant day! Big Brother is out of surgery and he gets to hang out with Baby Boy while they process the bone marrow. Transplant around 5 or 6 this evening.

Prayers still appreciated!

The info on what's happening is in this post. Thank you all for the prayers! 🩷

[darlingbookworm]

Quick Met Gala roundup, mostly to note sone trends I am perceiving! Several broad categories emerged, including but not limited to:

What Time Is It? Time For The 1970s

[darlingbookworm]

[darlingbookworm]

*by this I mean that the berry itself is likely nontoxic! however, you should always check to make sure you're not picking from an area that may contain other toxins, for example pesticides or some form of waste.

It's black raspberry season where I am and while picking a huge haul I was overcome with the urge to make this post lest somebody deprive themselves of an incredible summer treat due to not knowing if they can pick that thing that looks like a raspberry (they probably can!)

Always forage responsibly! "Pick two, leave the third" is something I learned when I lived in an area with ramps/wild leeks, and while it's a lot less important with more hardy plants, it's still good courtesy! In addition, try to make sure you're not trespassing on private property or at the very least don't outright steal from someone's garden.

ANY EDITS AND OTHER NOTES WILL BE ADDED TO THE ORIGINAL POST; PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I GET SOMETHING WRONG

Regarding toxic look-alikes: a cursory search only turned up Goldenseal, which is not a Rubus plant but looks similar to a raspberry. However, it's a lot rarer and can be easily distinguished from edible berries as it is not a bramble and therefore does not have thorny stems + has a completely different leaf shape. I couldn't find information on anything else that looked even remotely similar to a Rubus plant.

Regarding "pick two, leave the third" -- exceptions can and potentially should be made for invasive plants like Wineberries, which are luckily one of my favorite wild berries. Pick and eat these like you mean it! I'm hesitant to recommend you outright destroy any bushes you find (again, they are my favorite), but what I can say is you probably shouldn't be trying to propagate these. They'll do that on their own. They're very hardy.

Regarding advice for foraging: Wear light but long-sleeved clothing. Jeans and boots are great; I like wearing a very light cardigan as it prevents my arms from getting mangled by mosquitoes. You can wear gloves if you're worried about getting scratched by brambles but I really wouldn't recommend it as it'll make picking berries a lot harder. Also, always check yourself for ticks afterwards! While there's no need to panic if you do find any, you can minimize the risk of getting bitten by checking yourself and changing clothes when you come back from berry picking.

[darlingbookworm]

[darlingbookworm]

sunlight

[darlingbookworm]

Wilderness from my new book Faraway Dreaming. 🌱🌲 Available on Kickstarter until 24 June, 2025!