In case anyone’s wondering how our move to Madrid is working out, today involved my landlord toting a duffel bag full of chainmaille, plate armor, and a broadsword up to our apartment so he, my husband, and I could all nerd out about historical clothing together. The three of us wound up comparing notes through broken English, terrible Spanish, and Google Translate for an hour. 

Landlord: has mad metalworking and leatherworking skills, but no sewing skills and minimal woodworking skills. Needs a gambeson for his chainmaille and wants a wooden horse crest for his plate helmet. Can’t speak English well enough to find tutorials on YouTube.

My husband: has some metalworking skills including several years of making chain maille whne we were in uni, and mad woodworking skills including beginning carving. Has been wanting to learn to make swords for longer than we’ve been married.

Me: Has intermediate sewing skills, mostly in historical clothing and making quilts, is a native English speaker who knows how to find just about any skill set tutorial on YouTube. Has been wanting to experiment with medieval clothing.

Today has been a good day, y’all. 

felt like myself for the first time in a long time today, i guess i should listen to bridge city sinners while getting dressed more often.

joulesverne > hobbitpunks

🌸new intro🌻

Hi! I'm Sam and this is what you need to know about me:

*Non-binary (they/she)

*32 years old

*white on Huarpe territory

*I speak spanish and english

*ace

*future librarian

*anti TERFs/SWERFs

*anti racists, fascists, colonialists, imperialists and related "ists"

*pro-choice feminist

*on the communist spectrum

*fat - pro body neutrality and fat positivity

*atheist

*cat person

My personal tags: #sam posts #sam's photos

My side blogs:

@fatphobiabegone

@communist-hobbit

@ahobbitstudies

@alibrarianintheshire

@sunshineefelixbeibi

My discord for fat positivity/liberation and body neutrality.

Let me know if you need me to tag something I post as tw.

Also, this blog is SFW (but with some swearing)

Used to be @cottagecorehobbit

Studyblr Community Challenge

Day 12 - How much time do you spend on studyblr per day on average?

The time I spend on tumblr really varies depending on how much I have going on. Currently that I'm working on the paper and having one crisis after the other it's not that much but when I have nothing to do I can be here all day 🤷‍♂️

🍂

Day 13 - Do you have an ‘aesthetic’? If yes, what is it?

Yes! It's hobbitpunk and chaotic academia!

☕

Day 14 - What are some of your study essentials?

I have a sort of bullet journal that I use for everything concerning my life (journaling, organizing, planning, etc.). Specifically for studying I work best with low quality notepads. I have one with grid paper for my lecture notes and one with blank pages for my study notes. Generally I prefer taking notes by hand because I memorize stuff better like that. And I color code my notes based on subjects because I keep everything in the same notepad.

🍁

Idea that comes from me and a friend being way too stressed out.

An old gf and I were talking about how annoying it is that the punk and goth we grew up with doesn’t have anything left to it but “aesthetic” posts on Instagram, or Pinterest, or whatever the hell social media they use these days.

We’re joking now that we’re going to start our own counterculture, and call it “Hobbitpunk.” Think Cottagecore, but with combat boots and spray paint.

Imagine drinking tea while lounging in a room full of mismatched, thrifted furniture that’s comfy as shit, but held together with duct tape. You’re wrapped in a handmade quilt, and reading Karl Marx. There are assorted dumpster dived containers on your windowsill full of herbs and salad greens. You’ll make hot soup for supper, and share it with a half-dozen other freaks who showed up to plan a direct action that will probably involve stolen fireworks. Somebody baked bread to go with the soup, and a friend with a green mohawk and waistcoat covered in patches brought cookies.

All for One (Transformers)

Summary: The Seekers are put on a humiliating punishment detail, and only one knows why. Word Count: 1,750+ Warnings: None A/N: This is set in the cartoon G1 Universe, with bits (like personalities) pulled from the G1 IDW comic line. I love Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp and it’s so fun getting these three in trouble.

My Master List is HERE.

(Image by HobbitPunk, found here.)

"Slaggit! This is ridiculous!" Skywarp ranted. "This is not our responsibility. It's… it's demeaning!" Forty-three, Thundercracker silently counted to himself. Forty-three outbursts. His trine brother had been complaining, loudly, since Megatron had assigned them to this cursed duty. Not that he blamed his wingmate. For unknown reasons, the trine had been assigned construction duty. Of all things, construction duty. They were hauling large metal beams over a mountain range. The slagging things were so heavy that the three of them – Starscream, Skywarp and himself – had to use harnesses on them and slowly fly them over the mountains. At this pace, they couldn't even use their altmodes. "Using our superior skills for this! It's insulting!" Skywarp continued. "Shut. Up. Sky. Warp." Starscream bit out each syllable. That made thirty-nine 'shut ups' from Starscream, by Thundercracker's count. The other four times he himself had tired of his wingmate's grousing first. He began timing how long until Skywarp's next outburst. The intervals between each one were becoming gradually shorter. Soon, he believed he could accurately estimate when the next outburst would occur. If nothing else, the extra computations gave him something to do during this infernal duty. "Surely you can see how absurd this is!" Forty-four. And several nano-kliks sooner than Thundercracker anticipated. He filtered the new time into his internal equation. "The best trine in the Decepticon army, and we're forced to do … Constructicon work?" Skywarp released one hand off the harness, waving at the beam they carried. The other two cried out in protest as it began wobbling. "Why us? If he needed fliers, why not some drones? Or the Coneheads? What idiocy possessed Megatron to do this to us?" "Just let it go. And grab that harness before it falls!" Starscream hissed at Skywarp. Thundercracker contemplated whether or not to add this to Starscream's 'shut up' count. 'Let it go,' was probably the mildest order the Air Commander had ever used for silence, but the intent was the same. It would be interesting if the tamer command effected the duration until Skywarp's next tantrum. Intrigued by the new variable, Thundercracker began cross-referencing the inflection of Starscream's commands compared to the time decrease between Skywarp's outbursts. Perhaps stronger inflections caused a smaller time decrease? The hypothesis was worth investigation. While he compiled numbers, he also considered the irony of Starscream refusing to engage in a discussion of Megatron's faults. Their trine leader usually pounced at the chance to ridicule the other mech. It was almost unheard of for him to miss an opportunity. In fact, it was unheard of… Thundercracker halted, forcing the other two to do the same or risk unbalancing the beam. They squawked at the abrupt stop. Ignoring their protests, he turned to Starscream. "What did you do?"

"What do you mean?" Starscream replied, too quickly. "We 'mysteriously' pull the most humiliating shift imaginable for Seekers, and yet it's Skywarp – not you, not you! – who's complaining about Megatron. When have you ever not carried on about our glorious leader? Yet Skywarp brings it up, and you tell him to, 'let it go.' What did you do?" Skywarp turned shocked eyes to the Air Commander. "Screamer?" "Don't call me that! And I didn't do anything," Starscream glanced away, "… much." "What!" "Much?" Thundercracker replied at the same moment. "What didn't you do 'much' of?" Starscream attempted to shrug, but the metal beam's immense weight made the motion impossible while airborn. Instead, he twitched his wings. "It was just a small clerical error. Keep moving. This is heavy." "Actually, I feel like putting it down. 'Warp, that sound good to you?" "’Down’ sounds real good to me," Skywarp replied. Suiting actions to words, he dropped altitude without warning. The others scrambled to match his decent, trying to keep the beam from toppling from their grip. They dropped it unceremoniously into a shallow stream bed. "Amazing," Starscream said, once they stood on solid ground. He considered his trine. "I didn't realize we'd joined the Autobots, becoming a democracy, taking votes. All that tripe." "No, not Autobots," Thundercracker snorted. "We're Decepticons. With that comes the responsibility to question our leaders, confirm that they deserve our loyalty. Is that not what you always say?" "Cute." Starscream's optics narrowed. "So." Thundercracker crossed his arms. "'Clerical error?'" "Yeah, what does that even mean?" Skywarp asked. Starscream threw his arms up in disgust. "It was nothing. Remember when the Aerialbots attacked our supply depot, three deca-cycles ago? Several munitions crates were destroyed. I assisted in the clean up. A few crates of explosives were mistakenly reported as destroyed. Some Constructicons discovered them recently, undamaged." Skywarp glanced at Thundercracker, then back at the Air Commander. He shrugged. "That's it? Finding extra weapons is usually a good thing. That's glitched." "Precisely my point. It was nothing." Thundercracker had plenty of experience listening to Starscream's narratives and, more important, listening to what was not said. He raised an optic ridge. "Where exactly did they find these explosives?" Starscream awarded him with an annoyed glance. "Is that important?" "Yes. Even more so now, since you don't want to answer." Skywarp's shoulders slumped as he considered his trine leader. "Screamer, you didn't…" "Do not call me that!" Starscream growled. Glancing between the two other Seekers, he shook his head. Surrendering, he listed off the coordinates where the crates had been found. Coordinates that were not only no where near the supply depot, but actually on the far side of their base from it. "You must not have hid them very well, huh?" Skywarp asked, shaking his head. "They were hidden. They were in a cave. I collapsed the slagging entrance. There was no way to see them, or the cave." "But…?" Thundercracker prompted. "I don't know. Maybe someone else saw me over there. For whatever reason, our glorious leader sent the Constructicons to the area. 'For raw materials,' I believe the excuse was. It took them a few deca-cycles, but they found the crates." "Did you ever consider, y'know, moving them once you realized they were digging over there?" Skywarp asked. "I don't credit the Constructicons with an access of mental prowess, but they might have noticed me flying in empty-handed, and flying away loaded down with crates. Especially if Megatron sent them there to investigate me." Thundercracker shook his head. Starscream stockpiling explosives didn't surprise him. When it came to ways to overthrow Megatron, his trine leader was always exploring new and creative options. It took more than a few crates of munitions to surprise him anymore. Although he had to ask, "How many other stashes do you have, that Megatron doesn't know about?" "I'm shocked, Thundercracker," Starscream replied, sounding anything but. He didn't even attempt to hide his smirk. "Concealing weapons and explosives would be deceitful and traitorous. A loyal Decepticon would, of course, turn all munitions he obtained into base, where they would strengthen our cause. Suggesting I would do otherwise insults my," Starscream waved a hand idly, considering, "my… integrity. My honor. I am upset you even consider me capable of such duplicity." The three Seekers glanced between each other. Then Skywarp burst into laughter. Even Thundercracker couldn't hold a straight face. With a wicked grin, Starscream pretended to buff a scuff from his arm. "That's hilarious," Skywarp said. "Seriously, though, if you'd hid that slag better, Megatron wouldn't have found it." "Please," Starscream scoffed, "do you know how long I've been able to hide weapons from him?" "Apparently, three deca-cycles," Thundercracker raised an optic ridge. "After all, to suggest otherwise would insult your integrity and honor." "Yes, of course," Starscream said, innocently, "three deca-cycles." Thundercracker rubbed his temples. He was developing a processor ache: a common side effect when dealing with too much of Starscream's rationalizations. "Fine. Whatever. This still doesn't explain how 'Warp and I got dragged into," he gestured at the neglected beam, "this." "Oh. That." Starscream looked away. "Yes, ‘that’." Thundercracker crossed his arms. "I'm sure interested in ‘that’ too," Skywarp chimed in. Starscream shrugged. "Megatron was unimpressed with me having the explosives– " "Imagine that," Skywarp interrupted, glancing at Thundercracker. "–and informed me that if I enjoyed playing in the dirt, he could find something 'suitable' for me to do. Then he assigned me to move these." Starscream kicked the metal beam. "Assigned you. Not us. You. At what point did we get volunteered for this?" Thundercracker asked. "I pointed out a flaw in Megatron's logic." The Air Commander shrugged again. "Wait," Thundercracker raised a hand, stalling him. "Let me guess. You informed him that these are far too heavy for one Seeker to carry?" "Basically, yes." "Thanks, Screamer. Really, I mean that." Skywarp muttered. "Stop calling me that!" "What, exactly, did you think he'd do once you pointed that out?" Thundercracker asked, rubbing his temples. Yes, he was definitely developing a processor ache. "I thought he'd give me something, anything, else to do. I didn't want to haul these things around. Would you?" "Funny you should ask," Thundercracker replied, "because, no, really I don’t want to." "Why didn't Megs just beat the slag outta you? That's what he usually does." Skywarp didn't pretend to sound concerned about his Air Commander's physical well-being. "Yeah, well, he did that too," Starscream grumbled. Thundercracker considered his trine leader, arms crossed. "I suppose I should thank you. After all, if I weren't here, doing this wonderful chore because of you, I would be probably be doing something even more tedious: like attacking Aerialbots, or fighting Autobots, perhaps blowing something up. You know, boring stuff like that." He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "But now, I have the exciting opportunity to explore a new career as a Constructicon. Thank you, Starscream." "Shut up," Starscream said, but without any vehemence. "Are you two done complaining? We still have to get these slagging things moved." The two wingmates exchanged glances. "Why should we help you? This is your punishment." "Because if you don't, I'm won't finish this. And when Megatron comes asking why we're not done, he won't just come after me. You'll share any punishment I get. So, by all means, do nothing. Enjoy Megatron's wrath. I know he will." Starscream leaned against a boulder, crossing his arms. "I hate you," Skywarp muttered. "C'mon, 'Warp. Let's get this slagging thing moved." Thundercracker motioned to his trine brother, shaking his head. Turning back to the Air Commander, he asked, "One more thing, is there anything else you're up to that's going to come back and bite us in our collective afts?" "I don't know what you're talking about," Starscream replied, hand over his spark. "I'm the picture of innocence." "Great," Skywarp growled. "We're dead."

I made some 18th Century underpinnings and wore them under semi-normal clothes to go out because fuck it, why not?

irOkay, so this started a while back with that one Bernadette Banner video about bringing back pockets as fashion. Watched it while I was trying to figure out how to restyle/resize a skirt that I loved, but was cheaply made and falling apart six months after I got it. And I knew that I wanted pockets, but couldn’t work out how to do that. 

Then I decided a while ago to make myself some 18th Century stays, pictures of which have been online before. I’ve written a whole rant on why I want stays before, and posted several blogposts about the history of stays. Not doing that here. When I made them, I decided to use some of the scrap fabric to make a pair of 18th Century pockets, the kind that you tie on under your skirts and access through holes in the outerwear. 

Here they are, freshly finished. They (and the stays) aren’t historically accurate, exactly. They were made with some scrap linen/cotton blend I had lying around, and bound in bias tape I made out of some teal quilting cotton. Because teal looked damned good with that unbleached linen/cotton. 

And here they are, tied on over my stays and chemise. I figured out a really good rubric as to how big a pocket I make should be: if I can’t fit a paperback copy of Dune into the pocket, I need to make them bigger. These? They can fit Don Quixote. 

Here they are once they’re on. 

You can’t wear stays against your skin, and I’ve got exactly one chemise made of cotton muslin. For now. There are a few more cut out and ready to be sewn up, because you have NO IDEA how comfortable this was. 

You can also see if you followed that link that I’ve shrunk a little bit in the last few months. If this were a bra, I’d be looking at a different size. As it is, I just lace it down a bit tighter and go on with my day. If I gain a bit, which happens, I’ll lace it a bit looser and do the same. I’ve got two more sets of stays planned out as well, because this shit’s more comfortable than any bra I’ve ever worn. Also: back support. So much back support. 

Adding my underpetticoat. Look at the slits at the hips, this is because I made it 18th Century style, I think it’s called “apron front?” basically the front is a drawstring you tie behind you, and the back is a drawstring you tie in front of you. The result is a skirt that expands or contracts with your body as you change size over the years.

It’s not even a “pattern,” per se. This skirt and the yellow one that’s following is literally just a bunch of rectangles sewn together with straight seams. My ancestresses didn’t have the money to waste lots of fabric on circle skirts, nor did they have the time to fiddle with weird seams. They had shit to do, much like I do now. 

Yeah, the yellow one’s made mostly the same way as the underpetticoat. Two drawstrings, slits in the side giving me epic pocket access. The chemise peeks out under the tee shirt, but honestly, no one gave a shit, least of all me. I’ll make the next ones with shorter sleeves. Or I’ll make the sleeves longer and just go with it. Dunno yet. 

This is what I wore to go to the salon, do grocery shopping, and go out to lunch with my husband. No one noticed a damned thing, and the linen and cotton reacted as such materials do with heat and sweat to turn the stays into a snugly laced, supportive, REFRIGERATOR held over my torso in the first days of a Korean summer. 

Tagging some friends for fun! @balkanradfem​, @thinnyhopper​, @iridessence​, @hobbitinthelibrary​

It’s worth noting that when my “autistic as fuck” husband tried on the landlord’s chainmaille shirt yesterday, he discovered two things.

1: Shiny steel chainmaille looks AMAZINGLY COOL over a black hoodie.

2: Weighted shirts are the best thing ever.

PO. TA. TOES. Once again, Jon Townsend is on my blog. Dude is the Mr. Rogers of cooking, I love watching his videos. There’s a bit at the end about how community and mutual aid keep you alive in hard times, it’s worth your time.

In the spirit of Hobbitpunk...

... the husband and I are moving to Madrid in October, if everything goes well. I’ve spent the last few weeks scrambling for paperwork, and tomorrow I hop a train to Seoul so that I can apply for my study visa in Spain. My husband’s appointment is later in September, the first he could get. 

Me, adding this pile of recipes I’ve collected into my cookbook before we leave Korea:

“Soup. Soup de doop. Soup de doop. Soup de doop de doop de doop. Eat the soup. Soup de doop. Soup de doop de doop de doop.” 

ACTUALLY made the whole 7km hike around the mountain near us!

I’ve gotten so out of shape, spent the last 2 years mostly inside a shoebox apartment because the school we worked at (that sponsors our visas so we don’t have to return to the US) told us to stay home if we weren’t going out for essentials. They wanted to minimize the risk of our unvaccinated kindergarteners getting Covid, since none of the parents seemed to be taking any precautions (Amusement parks, Mom? REALLY????) and the headmistress didn’t actually have any virus protections in the school.

But we’re allowed to go out now, and the mountains are relatively safe because people don’t really congregate there. Korea’s a trip. The city we live in is just built around the mountains and they’re all parks that people can just go hiking whenever we want! It’s awesome!

The husband and I have been going almost every weekend, setting little distance goals. To the stream (1km). To the gazebo (1.5km). To the triceratops statue (4km). We hadn’t been getting far the last couple of weeks, just didn’t have enough spoons to keep going. 

Yesterday we hit our big milestone hiking goal: the full 7km circuit from the train station to the triceratops statue between the two mountains, and behind one of them back to the city. I was starting to worry that we wouldn’t make that goal before this fall. 

The second big hiking goal is up to the peak of the northern mountain then down past the yellow temple. It’s... it’s a CLIMB. I want to make the triceratops circuit a couple of times before we start attempting it. 

Still. MADE THE WHOLE TRICEY CIRCUIT YESTERDAY AND NOW MY ENTIRE BODY HURTS! YAY!

Step One: apply for ESL teaching jobs (my husband’s and my field) in Poland. Not my first choice for the EU country I want to work in, we were hoping for Spain or France, but hey, I’ll give it a whirl.

Step Two: research Poland because I know almost nothing about it. 

Step Three: discover that apparently Polish culture involves five meals daily, including one that literally translates to “second breakfast.” 

Step Four: suggest to the husband that maaaaybe we should reconsider Poland as a definite option for the next year’s contract.

It’s worth noting here that my husband got me to agree to getting my ESL teaching certification and moving to Korea by introducing me to Korean food, specifically kimchi. My decision went from “I can’t even find that on a map, have you lost your mind?” to “WHEN DOES THE PLANE LEAVE?????” within the span of one dinner.

Do you have suggestions on where to get Hobbitcore clothing for fat people? There’s a faerie festival I want to go to next month all cute and hobbit-y

(Clothing style doesn’t matter but size and pice do)

Sadly, I do not. There are a few fast fashion items on Amazon, but they're usually garbage.

I'm not really much of a cosplayer at this point, unfortunately. My focus has been on everyday lifestyle stuff. I can suggest looking at thrift shops for plain trousers or broomstick skirts (whatever your preferance is), peasant tops or loose button-downs with sleeves you can roll up, and vests. Extra points if you can find something you can also combine with other items in your wardrobe for everyday wear, because where's the fun in having something in your closet you only wear for cosplay?

Also, it won't help you much now, but I can suggest browsing YouTube for some sewing tutorials. I'm a fat woman living in an part of Asia with NO shops selling clothing in my size, and I've had to learn to sew to get anything that fits me. And let me tell you, even the simplest straight seams on a cheap sewing machine were a game changer.