Sailing the Shipping Seas

So if you skim through this page here:

Inuit Nunangat - Wikipedia

You'll find a list of towns within the Inuit regions of Canada. Perusing through this list, you'll find that Inuit towns will either be named after...

Physical characteristics of the area (Aupaluk - "Where There Is Red Earth")

Animals that are common or significant to the area (Aklavik - "Grizzly Bear Place")

Unique aspects of the town itself (Inurjuat - "Lots of People")

In general, just very practical names for towns and villages. One name that I thought up, and that has a good ring to it, is "Orca's Edge" for a coastal village. In Inupiat and Yupik folklore, it was believed that some orcas can transform into wolves. This was due to the phenomenon of wolf tracks appearing to lead into or to come out of the sea as a result of ice breaking away. Given ATLA's love of fusion animals, I think it would be great if there were a village where they hunt wolf-orcas.

What do you do when your comfort no longer comforts?

As some of you know, over the last 6 months I have been battling the sudden onset of a new chronic illness. In the space of a month and change I was suddenly newly disabled, being gaslit by doctors, and slowly losing the ability to eat. As if this wasn’t distressing enough, this all was playing out over the backdrop over the holidays and anniversaries of the death of my mother and grandmother.

Worst of all? I found the things I usually do for comfort (cycling, traveling, writing, and engaging in crafts with friends) suddenly off limits. As my life turned into my own personal hell in late 2025, the world outside got bleaker and bleaker. I found myself growing more and more numb, unable to cope or escape in the ways I usually did. My friends started complaining their comfort books weren’t comforting the way they were used to. They were turning to cozier and cozier pieces of media and lashing out when those books weren’t what they were looking for.

The whole situation reminded me vividly of the problem many of us found ourselves with in March and April of 2020: Many of us lost or had to alter our coping mechanisms because of the pandemic. 

(Yes, yes, I know, don’t remind you.)

The pandemic’s effect on mental health was well documented and doesn’t need additional commentary by a little sapphic author. However, as someone who has recently found themself turning to old comforts to get through these trying personal and political times–and has found themselves struggling to find comfort in these once-comforting items– I thought I might share some thoughts on what I’ve been doing to get through.

(And yes, there may be some lessons from the pandemic thrown in there, too.)

Read on Patreon!

Step 1: Realize Comfort Is Transitory

We turn to our comfort medias, items, and tasks because we find regulation in media. We sink into models of the life we want, not the ones we have, but perhaps most importantly, we know what’s coming. There are no surprises in a piece of media you’ve already consumed and found comfort in. Our bodies and brains relax into the routine and muscle memory, etc. This is especially important for folks who are neurodivergent, who often need routine to thrive (whether we like to admit it or not).

However, the problem with life is that it isn’t routine.

Have you ever had an experience where you’ve spoken to someone further along in their life journey, and therefore trivializes your stressors while upselling theirs? Yeah, it’s like that. As we move through our non-routine lives, we react to different stimuli and stressors. Things that made you want to tear your hair out in high school make you go “oh, you sweet summer child” in adulthood. Things that stressed us out in 2016 seem banal to us in 2026.

So how does that apply to suddenly losing the ability to find comfort in your old favorite media piece?

Well, think of it this way: The human body has a million different enzymes and chemicals it releases in reaction to the different things it encounters every day. Enzyme A is meant to signal Cell A to attack Intruder A. Why? Because Cell A is specifically meant to be effective against Intruder A. So when you have been minding you own business and living your regular life, is it really fair to think the media that comforted you during your normal everyday life or when you were going through a break up can suddenly go toe to toe against a global pandemic or life-altering event?

No.

My ability to consume media took a nosedive after I got sick in October 2025.

Step 2: Realize Comfort Items Are Transitory, But Themes Are Not

Yeah, great, Ty, what does that mean? It means that while Comfort Media A might not be comforting anymore, there’s a reason why you liked it. Why it brought you comfort. 

Here’s some examples from my life. 

Example 1: Two of my favorite comfort medias, Pacific Rim and Mad Max: Fury Road, are both set in post-apocalyptic settings. It turns out, though, that when the world around you feels like an apocalypse (i.e. a global pandemic), you no longer find comfort in media set at or near the end of the world. Surprise, surprise, right?

However, both Pacific Rim and Mad Max: Fury Road both have themes where a “band of misfits” come together to save the world. There is cool technology, worldbuilding ripe for expansion, opportunity for deep character exploration, etc. I also love the fight and action scenes and the open, Happy For Now (instead of Happily Ever After) endings.

Step 3: Search and Apply Comfort Themes 

Once you identify why you liked Comfort A, and you identify why Comfort A no longer comforts like it should, you can then apply that to finding Comfort B (and C, and D, and E, and…) 

Ask yourself the following. For Comfort B, do I want something:

Almost Exactly The Same (Same Themes, Nearly Identical Execution)

Find canon compliant fanfic, podfic, or fanmixes for Comfort A

Check out comp titles for Comfort A

Find a new hobby or task that stimulates the exact same part of brain as Comfort A

Like knitting? Try crochet or needlepoint.

Find a new activity that moves your body in the same way as Comfort A

Like jump rope? Try trampoline.

Similar But Different (Same Themes, Similar Execution)

Read canon divergent fiction (universe alternation instead of alternative universe) for Comfort A

“What If” fics

Check out comp titles for Comfort A (but in an adjacent genre)

Cozy fantasy or romantasy instead of fantasy, 

Find a new hobby or task that stimulates a similar part of the brain as Comfort A

Like crosswords? Try Wordle

Find a new activity that moves your body similarly to Comfort A

Like running? Try soccer.

Similar But Completely Different (Same Themes, Completely Different Execution)

Read or engage with alternative universe fanfic, podfic, fanmixes, etc

Coffee shop AUs, etc

Find new media with similar themes (found family, etc) but in a completely different genre 

Noir or epic fantasy instead of romantasy

Find a new hobby or task that stimulates a similar part of the brain as Comfort A 

Like Wordle or crosswords? Try Sudoku.

Find a new activity that moves your body in similar as Comfort A

Like flag football? Try ultimate frisbee.

Completely Different (New Themes, Completely Different Execution)

Engage in a new fandom

Read crossover fanfiction or engage in fanmake for series you’ve only consumed passively on social media or at conventions

Engage in a brand new genre

Only read sci-fi? Pick up a historical mystery.

Read a lot of fiction? Pick up some nonfiction.

Pick up a brand new hobby.

Like sewing? Try singing or playing an instrument. 

Move your body in a brand new way

Running? Try tai chi or yoga.

Take It Back Now, Y’all (Return To Old Hyperfixations/The Nostalgia Hit)

Reread old fanfics, watch old AMVs, and go find the fan content created by old fandoms

Engage in your favorite childhood, teenager, etc media

Pick up old hobbies gathering dust

Try moving your body in a way you used you love (older joints and current chronic illnesses allowing, of course)

Example 1: I finally determined I wanted something Similar But Completely Different/Completely different to Pacific Rim and Mad Max: Fury Road. I also, eventually, sunk back into old hyperfixations. 

Overall I changed my hobby habits for several months–I watched a lot of TV, which I don’t normally do. (Despite Pacific Rim and Mad Max: Fury Road being two of my favorite comfort medias, I’m not a screen person and rarely watch TV or movies). I also developed a new hyperfixation/fandom (space shuttle!) and fell back into an old one (The Legend of Korra).

Similar But Completely Different (Same Themes, Completely Different Execution)

I mainlined My Hero Academia, Fire Force, and Yowamushi Pedal

Completely Different (New Themes, Completely Different Execution)

I got into The West Wing based on a recommendation from a friend

Watched the entirety of The Repair Shop on Netflix

 I read everything from my library on the space shuttle and NASA’s human spaceflight program. Listened to a bunch of podcasts, too!

Take It Back Now, Y’all (Return To Old Hyperfixations/The Nostalgia Hit)

I got really into The Legend of Korra again and wrote 300,000+ words of Kyalin fanfic in approx. six months

I rewatched Yakitate Japan, and from there watched Food Wars and a bunch of cooking shows on YouTube and Netflix (Tasting History with Max Miller, etc)

Once it was declared safe to go outside again, every evening I walked 5+ miles around my neighborhood playing Pokemon Go and listening to audiobooks/podcasts.

In late 2025, I tracked my health and did a ton of research. It was comforting because I was able to put words to my experiences, find others who were going through what I was, and I was able to start to piece together a picture of what I might expect.

Example 2: My chronic illness physically took away my ability to engage in many of my hobbies that helped me regulate, including cooking, reading physical media, and going on walks/going to the gym. I needed to find new ways to escape and to build routine.

As stated above, I’m not a TV or movie person. I was also really struggling with anything physical or mentally taxing. Standing for more than five minutes at a time was challenging. Even audiobooks and TikTok were too challenging for my brain. Writing, my main form of regulation in 2025, was out of the question. I also didn’t have access to streaming services. What was a butch to do?

Answer: Research my suspected new chronic illness, watch a lot of YouTube shows, and not much else. As I started to get a little better, I was able to listen to more audiobooks and work on my novel in fits and spurts, but I still very much watched a lot of YouTube shows.

Almost Exactly The Same (Same Themes, Nearly Identical Execution)

Oceanliner Designs (one of my hyperfixations is the Titanic and old ocean liners) 

Similar But Different (Same Themes, Similar Execution)

Watching Outdoor Boys, Metal Detecting WWII Battlegrounds, and Time Team, all very soothing shows

I run the Gail Carriger Fan Server Book Club, and a lot of the books we ended up reading during that time period were Similar But Different to books she has written, which was nice

Similar But Completely Different (Same Themes, Completely Different Execution)

Started reading contemporary paranormal romance 

Started reading more “cozy” and less hardcore fantasy/sci-fi (but still with themes of found family, etc)

Completely Different (New Themes, Completely Different Execution)

Researching WTF was wrong with me

When in doubt, PubMed!

And Nature and Research Gate and and…

I started writing blog posts, because that was what my brain could write!

Take It Back Now, Y’all (Return To Old Hyperfixations/The Nostalgia Hit)

I rewatched Agatha All Along

I relistened to several comfort books from my childhood 

As I was able to handle audiobooks and mental stimulation again, I listened to several books on WW2 (a special interest)

Trainer Ty wants to battle!

Step 4: Profit?

It was strange–and frankly a bit distressing– to try and find new comforts while it felt like the world was on fire. It felt a bit like throwing spaghetti at the wall both in 2020 at the beginning of pandemic lockdowns and in 2025 when my health was disintegrating. It was easier in 2020 to find things that filled the void, and harder in 2025 when I was much more limited in what I could and couldn’t do physically and mentally.

However, once I found those items, I was able to find regulation and comfort. A relief for everyone!

In Summary:

Comfort Is Transitory. It’s Okay If Something Stops Comforting You

Identify Why Your Thing Comforts You (And Why It’s Giving You Troubles Now)

Try Something Almost Identical

Try Something Similar But Different

Try Something Old

Try Something New

The most important thing is to go in with an open mind and try not to feel upset or ashamed if something doesn’t work out. People try hobbies all the time and decide it is not for them! Why should comfort media be any different?

Good luck!

iukhimov was ukrainian by the way, possibly from odesa though there’s very little info on him i can find in english. his now-dead website exists on the internet archive but text only sadly. someone on the tolkien collector site i’ll link below at one point compiled a bunch of his illustrations on weibo though that link seems to be defunct now unfortunately

The figures look like, say, the illustrations in Old English Genesis A. There might be a little Eastern Orthodox icon style creeping in, or it might just be that that style has a lot in common with early medieval British and Irish manuscript illustration (ca. 600-1100 AD). These are great, and an extremely clever nod to the texts Tolkien was drawing from, and even the literal manuscripts in which he was imagining his work (or at minimum Bilbo’s work, in-universe) to be written:

As Tolkien says, “Further information will also be found in the selection from the Red Book of Westmarch that has already been published, under the title of The Hobbit.” (The Fellowship of the Ring, “Prologue: Concerning Hobbits”). Or, perhaps, in the Red Book of Hergest (Welsh, Llyfr Coch Hergest) — another Red Book of the West (or Wales, that is). Obviously The Hobbit does not actually show up in one of the most important medieval Welsh manuscripts (currently housed at Oxford), but from the very first page of lotr, Tolkien was playing with an incredibly specific manuscript history!

Thanks for the prompt, @btheleaf !

I’ve had a mostly un-fun holiday weekend, with more un-funness to come tomorrow. So this might not be quite as much fun as it could have been, but I greatly appreciate the distraction!

(Mild NSFW, only in passing)

Tenzin rubbed a hand down his face as he returned from the lavatory. The weariness from the trip just to get here ate away at him, and he really just wanted to crawl back in bed between Lin and Pema, and go back to sleep.

Except when he had left, they had turned inward to reach for the other, and eating up the center of the already too-small bed. He couldn’t keep himself from sighing both in peevishness at the exclusion and at the… What had Kya called it? Compersion. This new joy he felt at watching his beloveds love each other.

me for the last hours: