#not a fairy

[babythegod]

[karlovycross]

Summer Berry Mix 🍓🫐 ♡⊹˚₊

[thestuffedalligator]

“Are you the witch who turned eleven princes into swans?”

The old woman stared at the figure on the front step of her cottage and considered her options. It was the kind of question usually backed up by a mob with meaningful torches, and the kind of question she tried to avoid.

Coming from a single dusty, tired housewife, it should’ve held no terrors.

“You a cop?”

The housewife twisted the hem of her apron. “No,” she muttered. “I’m a swan.”

A raven croaked somewhere in the woods. Wind whispered in the autumn leaves.

Then: “I think I can guess,” the old woman said slowly. “Husband stole your swan skin and forced you to marry him?”

A nod.

“And you can’t turn back into a swan until you find your skin again.”

A nod.

“But I reckon he’s hidden it, or burned it, or keeps it locked up so you can’t touch it.”

A tiny, miserable nod.

“And then you hear that old Granny Rothbart who lives out in the woods is really a batty old witch whose father taught her how to turn princes into swans,” the old woman sighed. “And you think, ‘Hey, stuff the old skin, I can just turn into a swan again this way.’

“But even if that was true – which I haven’t said if it is or if it isn’t – I’d say that I can only do it to make people miserable. I’m an awful person. I can’t do it out of the goodness of my heart. I have no goodness. I can’t use magic to make you feel better. I only wish I could.”

Another pause. “If I was a witch,” she added.

The housewife chewed the inside of her cheek. Then she drew herself up and, for the first time, looked the old woman in the eyes.

“Can you do it to make my husband miserable?”

The old woman considered her options. Then she pulled the wand out from the umbrella stand by the door. It was long, and silver, and a tiny glass swan with open wings stood perched on the tip.

“I can work with that,” said the witch.

[ur-daily-inspiration]

[dontcallmebymyusername]

Does this count as finding a walrus at your door?

[daily--cats]

[maviyenot]

[great-and-small]

Reached out to a biologist to request some info about an extinct species of freshwater shrimp and the email she sent in response was not only lovely and helpful but also kind of poetry to me? People who study invertebrates are actually the most hopeful and compassionate scientists that we have.

[wyrmsfornerves]

Titania & Oberon

[prokopetz]

One of the reasons the walrus-versus-fairy thing was so contentious is that not only did the person who originally posed the question strongly believe the correct answer was obviously the fairy, their reasoning for why the fairy was obviously more surprising was that seeing a fairy would instantly refute the validity of human reason as a tool for understanding the universe and bring your entire worldview crashing down. The sensible response is, of course, to point out that people don't work like that, and realistically nobody is going to see something mildly inexplicable and fall to their knees wailing in existential despair unless we're living in an H P Lovecraft novel, but I'm not gonna lie, I'd probably pay money to read a story about a dude having a full on Lovecraft protagonist breakdown in response to seeing Tinkerbell.

[fairytaleprincessart]

[karlovycross]

𖥔 ݁ ˖ 🫐 *ੈ.

[julnites]

Red riding hood comic collab with the wonderful @yeehawpim (go check out their blog for loads of great comics!) 🌷 See the layouts he did here!

[ur-daily-inspiration]

[thecollectibles]

Art by 冯伟 Feng Wei（c12）

[the-dragon-girl-27]

It is the middle of a Sunday afternoon. You have nothing on, and aren't expecting visitors, deliveries or post.

Unexpectedly, there is a knock at the door.

you are greeted by...... her