a Mess™️

It started with someone listing "places with uncanny energy," like gas stations on a road trip, empty movie theaters, etc.

Then someone reblogged it and said those are called "liminal spaces," defining liminal as in-between, neither one thing nor another.

Tomorrow (July 4th, 2026) is the 10 year anniversary of the-crepes-of-wrath's comment, which:

Predates the 2020 spike in interest by four years

Predates the original backrooms post, and the the creation of r/liminalspaces by three years

Predates the earliest mention that KnowYourMeme attributes to Twitter by two years

I'm pretty sure this is the moment the term "liminal spaces" was attached to this sort of imagery, and it's TEN YEARS OLD TOMORROW!

There has been a growing trend in permaculture called "food forests," where you plant a bunch of native edible plants (and plants that shelter essential wildlife to keep the edible plants healthy) in layered ways that increase productivity and protect each other from extremes in weather as climate change ramps up. There was a study in Japan that produced the Miyazaki Method for planning a food forest. It seems now that, while this is extremely effective in the temperate parts of Japan and ecosystems similar to the one the test was done in, this may not be universally true, especially in places that don't naturally sustain forests.

Still, I think the concept can be expanded to produce things like "food scrublands," "food prairies," "food marshes," etc. The biggest hurdle in my opinion is that many colonial settlers are unfamiliar with the native food that grows or once grew in their area, making the idea of a native food ecosystem daunting to those who hold the power to actually implement these ideas.

Things she COULD have said, which are all true:

He‘s trying to take over your country and exploit the people you’ve sworn to serve and care for

He’s killed many children, including Francis of Nond, who was just the nicest little guy

He probably started the war with Tusaine. And even if he didn’t, he worked hard to put us in a position to LOSE, ending untold lives

He’s tried to kill YOU at least, like, eight times that I can think of

My cat hates him, which frankly is reason enough

What Alanna, who never got to meet her own mom, chooses to say:

Like this. And it’s beautiful. It’s beautiful to hear a soliloquy I loved so much already, and have it come to life in a way it never, ever, did before. I feel like I grasp his motivations, his twists and turns, no longer on an academic level but on a visceral, instinctive one. Because he’s presenting his mental and emotional journey in a way that speaks honestly, like a real person.

Usually, you would never house these two species together, but when in an emergency situation with literally nowhere else to put them, the rescue had to do it. Luckily for them, the 3 week old kitten and 3 day old fawn quickly bonded in their dire circumstance and several very cute photos were taken before the two were separated to be raised separately for release once the situation had cleared up and there was space for the fawn.

Learning the whole story also means that you get to find out that there are more photos!!