wheresmypineapples

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A norse runework starter pack!

Because runework is basically at the core of my craft, I use it all the time and I’m already more than familiar with it. Runework is super easy to incorporate into everyday life and it’s got a wide range of use so I truly recommend. It feels safe and reliable, and I don’t need to put a lot of time or focus on them. Now let’s get down to business to defeat the Huns.

Their story real quick:

So in His endless search for knowledge, Odin the Allfather hung Himself and was pierced by His own spear in order to be alone with Himself. He accepted no bread and no mead until He found the truth He’d been looking for. And He did: through the darkness of His own mind, Odin saw the runes and reached for them. It was told they were so powerful He could bring a man back from the dead using them.

The basics:

The runic alphabet, otherwise called Futhark. Because I’m a history nerd I try to use the “elder futhark” as much as possible, though there’s a new one going around that’s really popular too.

The more complicated stuff:

Vegvisir (you’ll often find it depicted inside a rune circle like the second pic, especially on jewelry and pendants): Vegvisir is first and foremost a compass, and its name translated from Icelandic quite literally means “that which shows the way”. Historians speculate that its shape might be derived from old sailing wayfinders in Scandinavia, thus its association with the compass. It’s supposed to guide one’s way through the storm, according to a line in the Huld manuscript. (x, y)

Aegishjalmur (Helm of Awe): Protection, protection, protection! That’s what it’s about. All of its branches are considered to be “guarding” the center, thus making it a major protection rune. Once you get the gist of it, it’s super easy to draw and useful. If you’re a fan of dragons like me, perhaps you know Fafnir’s invicibility was drawn from this rune, as stated in the Fáfnismál: The Helm of Awe | I wore before the sons of men | In defense of my treasure; | Amongst all, I alone was strong, | I thought to myself, | For I found no power a match for my own. (x, y) 

Aight quick presentation for other complex runes:

Now; How do I use runes? Where do I put them? 

Draw them anywhere and everywere. I wouldn’t recommend painting a ten-feet inguz on the closest police station but there’s still tons of places where runes can be useful. I draw them inside my wrists and close to pulse points, as way of “pumping” them into my system, so to speak. I write them down to focus my intent during rituals, choosing the one/s I need most atm. In a similar way, I envision them during meditation to clarify my intent. I also use them to decorate altars or devotional art. If you’re a norse pagan like me, maybe look up what runes your main deities are associated with! Quick rundown:

Odin is usually othala or ansuz

I often see Freyja associated with fehu, but that’s also the case for most of the Aesir

Tyr with teiwaz

Thor with thurisaz or uruz; etc…

What about bind runes?

By definition and according to historical speculation, bind runes are futhark runes which were merged into a single glyph (sometimes by carving them all on a single straight line, like oghams). They were super rare back in the viking age but they’ve become popular in the last few years.

People create them according to their needs. This aspect makes bind runes extremely versatile and personal because you can set really specific intents for them. They’re not exactly like sigils, though: when it comes to sigils, feeling and instinct usually guide people’s creation process. As for futhark bind runes, they’re made using existing glyphs from this specific alphabet. Here’s a bunch of bind runes that have been going around, just to give you guys a few ideas of what they can look like:

OKAYYY that’s all for me, time to sleep

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Random character concepts I want to play one day, but no idea when that will be:

Wild Magic Barbarian Hexblood who was raised her whole life by a coven of Hags and was actually happy with that life until she found out her beloved “Aunties” weren’t actually her birth family (Shocker, I know), so now she’s on a personal quest of self-descovery and whatnot to find her biological family. Very, very hag-like, with her Barbarian class and big muscles coming from her Annis Hag side.

Trickster Cleric of Vhaeraun. No, actually a Vengeance Paladin of Vhaeraun. Actually, nevermind, class is secondary here, just a Drow who worships Vhaeraun becuase Vhaeraun rules and WotC did my boy dirty okay?

On that same note: Orc or Half-Orc girl who fiercely worships Luthic and will never miss the chance to infodump everyone and anyone about the Cave Mother and her greatness if given the opportunity to do so.

Drakewarden Ranger Githyanki. After a raid went horribly wrong, she had to watch as her raiding party left her to die and her beloved dragon companion sacrificed his own life to save her. Now stuck on this Material Plane, she has since then become accustomed to surviving on the wilds that are now her home, alongside the unexpected aid of her Drake Companion: The spirit of her late Red Dragon mount, coming back from the dead to fight alongside her once more.

Circle of Spores Druid/Pact of the Fiend Warlock multiclass Goblin who seem to believe herself to be some kind of Cleric: Ever since she was a child, she has been having visions of a being she refers to as “the Mushroom Lady”, whom she has come to believe to be a goddess and worships her as such (Kind of like how Critical Role’s Jester with The Traveler, except with not actual cleric levels to back it up with). Unbeknownst to her, this seemingly nice fungi lady is no Goddess, but a very evil and very dangerous Demon Lord: Zuggtmoy, the Lady of Rot and Decay.

A Gnome Artificer. Still thinking of what subclass to give her, but basically just your average Gnome artificer… Or is she? She acts like a normal gnome, feels like a nornal gnome and for all intents and purposes she is a normal gnome… except she’s not, as she’s actually a extremely lifelike Autognome, with clockwork mechanisms where her internal organs should be (Basically, a steampunkish homunculus). She would pretend to be a real Rock Gnome and hide her synthetic nature from the party for as long as possible, though probably the secret would be out as soon as the first combat encounter happened, as she wouldn’t have blood to bleed. Either way, it would be fun.

Eldritch Knight Yuan-Ti Pureblood. As with many “purebloods” born into a Yuan-Ti cultist society, he was raised from birth to act as a spy. The  Merrshaulk’s cult he was born into had been nearly erradicated by a rival human village, and so he was sent there while he was still a child, with instructions of infiltrating the royal family. Pretending to be a human orphan, he was adopted by the family, and as he grew up he found himself growing attached to his loving foster father and brother, developing emotions and starting to question his loyalty to a cult that didn’t actually loved him. Then tragedy struck, he ended up confessing what he really was to his human brother and… It’s Kaeya guys, it is basically Kaeya Alberich from Genshin Impact except that he’s a snake person here.

Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer Goliath, kicked from her tribe because Giants and Dragons don’t mix and Goliaths are basically Giant Light™, as well as having self-esteem issues because of how weak she believes herself to be and yadda yadda, you know the deal by now. Probably the most bland and cookie-cutter idea out of these, but I still like her.

Wild Magic Sorcerer Drow. Malyk did it. Enough said.

Hobgoblin Wizard who used to be a gifted student at the Academy of Devastation until the day he dropped out after discovering that the Academy was not only corrupt to the core, but that they were not teaching him the Arcane arts to their full potential, since they only cared about magic as a tool for war. Excuse me, but there’s more to magic than just casting Fireball and exploding a bunch of people to smithereens like some scatterbrained terrorist! It is an art, Dad, an ART, and I am an A R T I S T!

Aberrant Mind Sorcerer gnoll, using the Reborn lineage from Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft for it since Gnolls aren’t a playable race as of me writing this because WotC are a bunch of idiots and cowards. Very canon-compliant, only reason this “gnoll” is not a feral fiend is that she was captured by a colony of Mind Flayers, and she has been so experimented on by them it is debatable how much of her is still Gnoll anymore. She was implanted with a mind flayer tadpole, but the ceremorphosis never completed (Aberrant Mind Sorc origin table), and as a side effect of her enhanced psionic mind she’s no longer an eternally hungry beast like all gnolls are supposed to be. But between her brain-eating “creators” that she miraculously escaped and Yeenoghu’s insidious lingering influence at the back of her mind, how much is this free will of hers going to last? Is she the gnoll she sees when she looks herself in the mirror, or is she actually the illithid tadpole still in her brain, controlling a gnoll body? And if she’s the latter, what would happen if she were to ever get too close to an Elder Brain? Who knows… 😈

[wheresmypineapples]

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The more immersed I’ve become in the world of writing and the writers community, the more I’ve learnt. And that learning has been as much in terms of grammar, style and genre as it has been about the many logistics of being a writer.

I get a sense that there are a lot of misconceptions around what being a writer is like. I sure keep coming across them when I talk to non-writers and see the surprise on their faces when I talk about what my experience has been like.

In truth, I love the writer’s life, with all of its joys and infuriating moments. But I do also think that there’s a lot people don’t tend to realise about it…

It can take a long time.

When I tell people it took me three years to write No Pain, No Game, they’re often surprised. If I’m honest, I used to think that it mainly took me that long because I wasn’t very disciplined back in the day. But, as it turns out, even when I’ve been working at it diligently, my second book will likely have taken me a good couple of years by the time it’s published.

In fact, when I published No Pain, No Game, I had this grand idea that I’d release The Dhawan Brothersexactly a year later. I’m not entirely sure where that arbitrary deadline came from. I suppose I liked the symmetry of releasing a book a year on or around the same date. That timeframe, rather than invigorate me, ended up discouraging me, because I just couldn’t fit everything I needed and wanted to do with the book within a year. I’d set myself up for disappointment before I’d even started.

I see other writers release a book a year and I’m in awe of them, because that just doesn’t seem to be me. I need time and space to be able to create.

And that’s just it. Writing (for me at least, and for others too, I’m sure) simply takes time. Some pieces will take you less time than others, but ultimately, you can’t really escape it. It’ll take howsoever long it takes you to write the right story.

…and that might be longer than you or anyone else might imagine. And that’s ok.

It can feel lonely.

It doesn’t have to be, but it can feel that way at times. I imagine that a lot of writers love their craft partly because it gives them that sense of independence and all that me-time—my guess is a lot of us tend to enjoy being alone with their writing, without it necessary feeling lonely.

But, as with everything one does by themselves and that relies only on their own abilities, there are moments where it can vacillate from being contentedly alone to feeling a little lonely.

Anything can trigger it. A scene that’s not coming out quite right. A character that’s got us stuck. A plot hole that’s leaking so badly it’s making us question the whole story. It can be something that’s writing-related, something that has nothing to do with it, and anything in between.

Before I found the writing community on Instagram—before I knew that I wasn’t the only one to go through such phases—I used to try and ride those waves as best I could, mostly aiming not to drown in them.

Now, when I feel a little isolated, I pick up the phone and ping a fellow writer, and I share what’s going on. They may not have the right fix for my plot hole, but knowing they can relate to my struggle makes a whole world of difference.

It can be discouraging.

I used to get to the end of a draft and all I could see would be how much still needed to be done. In my work as a beta reader and editor,I’m always mindful that, by pointing out areas for growth and improvement in someone’s manuscript, the writer on the other end risks only hearing one thing: that they’re so much further away than they might have thought from the finish line.

What I always tell writers is what I’ve trained myself to focus on in these moments: that the work left to be done on a story should be exciting.

That the distance left to cover before a book is ready is where the story gets polished and gets a chance to shine.

That all these things we didn’t get quite right in the previous drafts are as many opportunities for us to learn and grow as writers. To improve. To fine tune our tale until it’s the best it can be.

We can look at a mountain in front of us and wonder how we’ll ever get to the other side, or we can rub our hands together and smile, because we know the view from the top will be more than worth the climb.

It can feel vulnerable.

Writing is such a personal endeavour. It’s the act of pouring your soul out on paper and channelling your inner most desires, fears and insecurities. At its core, writing is very much like therapy: you get unlimited sessions during which you give everything you’ve got on the page. It can be healing in so many ways, but the fact that it’s so vulnerable is also what makes it scary. Sharing our writing is sharing layers of ourselves that we may not often show others.

It’s no wonder letting someone else read your work can be daunting. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in saying that showing your writing to anyone feels like handing over a piece of your heart and praying no one crushes it.

The reality of it is, whatever you write, and no matter how good you are at it, there are people out there who are bound not to like it. The most cliché of all examples is that of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter: as successful as it was (and still is, over a decade later!) there are people who hate it so much they go around burning copies of it on the street. True story.

So let us be vulnerable. Let us pour our hearts out into our work and let us accept that, just like with everything in life, we won’t everyone’s cup of tea. And that’s ok. These people were never meant to be our tribe anyways.

It can be a lot about NOTwriting.

My biggest misconception about writing? The one that definitely caught me unaware? The fact that writing can actually be, well, a lot about NOT writing.

It’s one thing to write, and it’s quite another to let the world know that you have something to say. If you don’t let people know your work is out there, it’s unlikely they’ll ever find out about it.

In comes social media, marketing, networking… All these things that are not actual writing but still very much all about your writing. A large portion of my time leading the ‘writer’s life’ has been focused on building a social media presence, nurturing a network, and putting my book out there in front of the right readers.

And that, my friends, takes a lot more time, effort and energy than one might think.

It is a pain sometimes? Yes. A hundred times, yes.

Can it be avoided? Afraid not! Not if you want people to find out about you and your work (or unless you can afford the luxury of hiring someone to do it all for you—hashtag: life goals).

…Why bother, then?

And here comes the Catch 22 question. If there are so many sides to writing that are painful, vulnerable, scary and cumbersome… why even bother with this whole writing thing?

Great question! I’m glad you asked.

And I’ll tell you why:

We bother because we love it. We do it all because we can’t not do it. Because there’s no way in hell we can go too long without writing. And I’m not talking about the word count you clock in every day or every week. I’m talking about the writing you do even when you’re not physically writing—when you’re washing the dishes whilst fixing plot holes, when you’re in the shower designing your next main character or when you’re about to go to sleep and the perfect idea for a great scene occurs to you.

We take it all in our stride, the good, the bad and the ugly, because there’s no way in hell we can picture our life without it. We put up with the annoying bits, the terrifying bits, the downright eye-roll-worthy bits because writing isn’t something we merely do: it’s who we are.

[wheresmypineapples]

i choked on my spicy chicken how dare you

[wheresmypineapples]

[wheresmypineapples]

I really need everyone to see me throwing a piece of bread into a bears mouth.

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awww hi margot!!!

[wheresmypineapples]

The Jetsons takes place in 2062, and George Jetson is 40 years old, which means that somewhere right now George Jetson is being conceived.

[wheresmypineapples]

[wheresmypineapples]

all articles about tumblr’s “decline” boil down to 2 things: you can’t get famous on here and you can’t make money on here. And they don’t get that that’s why we like it here.

[wheresmypineapples]

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This is the funniest video ever 😂

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inspiration

that's a human woman

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When he grabs your neck from behind 😩😫😩😫

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This could save lives so I thought I’d share!

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oh it’s a pottery tutorial.

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i learned that with the passage of the CARES Act, menstrual products are now considered eligible expenses for your health insurance, FSA, HSA, and HRA funds. (x)