#fall folliage

[foxspit]

Please please please just this once

[nwalthall]

Winter is comning...

© 2024 ned walthall

[fallauween]

by Ruben Daems

[casside-sionnach]

[spooky-autumn-town]

[happydazy82]

Same tree about two weeks apart (09/25 - 10/09)

[sammiethemusicman]

I will never play Christmas music until Thanksgiving week, but the second there's no more pretty leaves, it's jingle jingle season.

I'm not making the rules, just following em.

[veiledfox]

A Trip to An End

Stars. Galaxies. Nebulas. Endless vast expanse of the void of space. The tear in reality with the lake below the Tori Gate behind her closing shut, and a new one splitting existence in front. One which, by the pull of the Realm traversal, throws the Kitsune out amid a forrest. Stumbling a little, given she comes out on a small hill, Kyuushi catches herself and quickly descends to a flatter section.

Though before she could reach it, a violent rumble shakes the ground beneath her and causes the Woman to fall. Letting her ethereal flames blaze atop her head and behind the small of her back to free her Kitsune features, she catches herself into a roll by surrounding herself with her tails. Getting back up to her feet, but just seconds later having to stabilize herself again by embedding her tails into the ground around her. Another brutal quake shaking the trees and rocks around her.

"What-?" An explosion in the distance makes her ears flick to the source before she sees it. Little more than the top of the explosion visible past the tree tops, and the glow of flames peeking through the trunks. Seeing some of the folliage blown her direction, she braces herself just in time to keep upright as a shockwave impacts.

Catching only the briefest glimpse of what looked to be a small, round, pink creature blown right past her. Then a rounded brown bird of some kind. A purple rat. Then mere seconds later, dozens of creatures stampeding her direction. Deer like creatures, bugs of various kinds, some small bears. It would take a second for her to realize what they were, what kind of Realm she had landed in.

Pokemon. Rattata, Raticate, Caterpie, Weedle, Venonat, Stantler, Hoot-Hoot, Tediursa, Pidgey, Scyther, an occasional Pikachu, Cyndaquil, Chikorita, Totodile, and even an Unown or two. All rushing past her in a panic, some looking injured, others covered in suit, and others still currently fine. Though none paid her any mind, rushing straight past and beyond where she was.

It would be because of the sheer number of them all running by that it would take a moment for her to even notice that none of them were the colors she was familar with. Green Teddiursa and Stantler, an orange Pikachu, blue Unown, yellow Hoot-Hoot, they were all clors that were known to be rare variants in the version of this Realm she had been in before.

What was happening here? Lowering herself, Kyuushi leaps high into the air. Getting about half way up and out from the trees that made up the forest, she hears another explosion a ways off as she lands on embers. Jumping up again after and clearing past the top of the trees to land again and brace herself for the shockwave she knew was coming. Crouching down, wrapping her tails around herself, and raising her arms before her face before it hit, feeling herself pushed against for a few seconds before it passed.

The sight that greeted her as she opened up again afterward left the Kitsune at a loss for words. Everything was blazing, the skies darkened with clouds and smoke alike, lightning arcing across wildly. Streaks of flame hurdling across the sky in various directions, explosions too distant to hear or feel but still visible from the bright flashes. It was an apocolypse. There was no better way to describe it.

Especially as she hears another explosion, closer this time than the two before, and catches sight of it's source. The ground itself erupting, trees and stone thrown everywhere, lava spewing up into the air and crashing down onto the ground to burn anything and everything in it's path. She could hear untold numbers of living creatures crying out in pain and, undoubtedly, death throes.

What could've even caused this? It wasn't merely just a natural disaster, the world itself was breaking open. Letting herself drop again, she'd land just in time to feel the earth shake beneath her so violently that a section broke and started to move away nearby. Though in almost the same moment, she'd see a pulse of green energy surge out from the direction of the coming destruction. Hear a cry of a Pokemon ring out that she couldn't quite place right away.

It wouldn't take long before the answer of what it was would present itself to her, among the Pokemon surging past her trying to escape would be a few notable shapes. The first making it's approach that she could see being an orange furred, yellow maned Raikou. The electric Beast of Legend skidding to a stop and roaring out to deflect a bolt of lightning that came firing down from the sky above, protecting some smaller Pokemon that were hurrying past.

It would be moments after when she catches sight of the dark brown fur and black whiskers of what appeared to be Entei, leaping into the air and twisting itself to strike at a ball of molten rock that was crashing through some trees. A pale blue Suicune with a lush blue mane bounding in last, joined by the small form of a pink Celebi being last. Though they would come to a stop just feet from Kyuushi, who put up her hands in a gesture she hoped they'd understand meant she didn't wish them harm.

The Raikou and Entei joining them soon after, she would find herself surrounded by the group of four. "What's happened here?" Posing her question quickly, though as calmly as she could. Not hearing a proper reply, though thanks to her Magicks, she would understand the cry from the Celebi she received as a response while it flew closer to her.

Tell of how the 'Creator' was killed by something unknown, of how destruction began to rain down on the world. Of how entire landmasses had been wiped out already, and the destruction wasn't stopping. That all was lost, and they knew such was true, only doing their best to try and keep as much alive as possible in hopes that something, anything, could happen to stop it.

"I... shit-" To think she had arrived on a dying world, one who's end was coming so violently and rapidly for that matter, would've been unbelievable if not for the fact she was present for it. Her mind immediately beginning to race as she tried to think of something, anything she could do to try and help. But as quickly as she could think of possibilities, each one was shut down just as fast.

Except... perhaps...

"Try and direct some of the others to me, I might be able to do something..." Seeing them all nod, she watches the four disperse and start calling out to others. Doing their best to protect them from incoming danger and to direct them back towards the Kitsune.

Meanwhile, the Kitsune herself let herself become engulfed with Ethereal flame. Letting her truest self take hold in her humanoid form, her tails and horns all alighting with the same flame at their tips after it all disperses. The smaller flames growing bigger, brighter as she focuses. Calling upon as much of her Aether and Kitsune Magicks as she could to try and reach out to connect with the Tori Gate in her Realm.

It would take a moment, during which she could see Pokemon of all kinds starting to gather around her, still panicked but with a slight glimmer of hope in their eyes as they look to her. Until, finally, a connection, making her gasp as she feels it. Bringing her hands together in front of herself, their backs pressed flat, she reaches forward and plants her feet firmly in the ground. Grabbing onto what seemed to be nothing, but she could feel it. Warm, vibrating, thin edges nestled between her fingers and her palms.

Beginning to pull at these unseen edges, she can feel them resisting, urging her to exhert herself further. To call upon all her strength to pull them apart, groaning in her effort until feeling it start to give. The tiniest opening splitting in front of her between her knuckles, through which she can see her home on the other side. It would take a moment longer, pulling with all her might to make the opening bigger. Hearing the Legendary Beasts working to keep everyone safe and bring as many others as possible toward her.

Until, in a sudden burst of energy, what was little more than a baseball sized hole suddenly parted into the proper, full shape of the Tori Gate's inner space. Through which she calls out "Hotaru!" Thankfully seeing the Doll in question rushing to the front of the Tori atop the lake's surface. "Open a gateway into The Haven now!"

The Woman nodding, emerald green glow alighting from within her core and peering out from the joints that made up her body's connections. A clap of her hands, and parting of them after opening up another tear in reality on the other side. Showing, through it, the safer forests of the Pocket Dimension she had created a while ago.

"Everyone go through! Now!" Hearing the Legendary Beasts cry out after she did, after which the various different species around her began rushing through the gateway that had been opened. She could see some falling into the water of the Lake before swiming onward to get through the secondary gateway and onto land again. Others jumping through from one into the next, and others even still flying through in one smooth go.

Dozens, possibly hundreds of Pokemon were rushing through, but as she kept the Tori open for others to proceed through, she could hear and feel the destruction still approaching. It was getting closer and closer by the second, keeping Kyuushi's heart racing with nerves and uncertainty.

Celebi flies past her again, circling around and back to in front of the Kitsune, crying out as a pulse of energy surges out from it. The flora surrounding them growing more vibrant and shifting to try and form into protective formations as best as it all could at their command. Turning to face the Woman again after, and easing closer to set a small little hand on her shoulder and coo out in thanks for her aid.

"You need to get through as well, Raikou, Entei, and Suicune too. Preferably sooner than later, if at all possible." She speaks to it, feeling sweat building on her head as she does her best to keep her focus to hold the Tori's gate open. Seeing it nod it's head rapidly before soaring off into the nearby forest.

It felt like she was there for minutes before she saw the first of the Beasts rushing toaward her. Suicune, bounding her way until it drew close where it would slow and circle behind Kyuushi. Brushing gently beside her then leaping through the gateway onto the Lake's surface where it circles to keep watch of those still passing through.

An explosion a short distance away making a shockwave hit hard and fast, knocking some of the smaller Pokemon over. She could see the second of the Beasts arriving shortly after, in time to intercept another molten cluster and hit it away. Instead of proceeding through, however, it would stay close and protect her and the others from more that was starting to rain down.

Another minute passing before she hears the crack of thunder and watches the Raikou from before leap in, redirecting another bolt of Lightning. Remaining nearby like Entei had, doing it's best to protect and ensure others got through until the last possible moment. Kyuushi was just glad that she would see Celebi swoop past and circle around through the gateway to safety shortly after.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem they would be able to keep the effort going for much longer. Another explosion, even closer than the last, with the forest lighting up from a burst of Lava shooting into the sky. It was close enough that she could feel the wave of heat that came off it, and the shaking ground beneath was starting to crack and split. Part of the land breaking away from the rest and rising with magma seeping out around it.

The rain of molten rock that began coming down was too much for the Entei to stop all of it. Leaving numerable creatures getting pelted with burning hot rocks and some being injured beyond what was possible to save. Kyuushi's heart sunk, seeing the death and destruction drawing so close. It wasn't possible, wasn't reasonable to try and keep the gateway open for any longer than this.

Her eyes blurring and some tears streaming down her cheeks, she takes a breath. "We have to go, now!" Catching the attention of both the Beasts again, which both nod in agreement after quickly looking at the situation around them. The two dashing to as many of the smaller Pokemon as they could on their way to the gate, picking them up and carrying them through into safety. Though it was getting to be too much for Kyuushi to keep the gateway open like this.

Her arms starting to shake, she did her best to hold on and let what few other Pokemon were immediately nearby get through. Yet another explosion bursting from the Earth nearby making the ground beneath her split. Making her arms give as she stumbles, trying to keep from falling in, and watching the gateway shut in front of her.

She could only catch sight of one other that hadn't gotten through that was nearby, and was still healthy enough to possibly survive. A Cyndaquil, a tiny little thing having slid to a stop where the gateway once had been. Clearly shaking in fear, a scratch across it's snout, simply trying to keep it's footing as the section of earth it was on broke away from everything around it and began to rise with magma seeping forth.

Kyuushi burst into action with all the strength she had left, rushing forward in a dash for the Cyndaquil, scooping it up and hugging it close to herelf as she leaps off the rising section of ground. Only to find the ground ahead of her exploding, just before she could call upon the Tori again.

Wrapping the Cyndaquil with her tails and shutting her eyes tight as the searing warmth and brightness of the molten rock burns to look at. Then it's gone a second after, feeling herself crashing into the familiar cool water of the lake in the Shrine Lands. Quickly correcting herself and swimming for the surface to get the small fire-type above the surface to keep it from drowning, she's finally able to take a breath again as she hears it coughing as it clings to her.

Feeling Hotaru's hands grab under her arms and pull at her, she uses some tails atop ethereal embers to pull herself up with the Doll's help. Getting up and out of the water soon after, but collapsing to her knees in exhaustion immediately. Not only feeling her own body quaking violently from how much Aether she had expended and the nature of what she just escaped. But feeling the shivering Cyndaquil still in her arms too.

"Lady Kyuushi?" Hotaru's voice, concerned, confused, ringing in the Kitsune's ears as she kneels with her. "What happened, Lady Kyuushi? What was going on in that realm?" Focused more on her Charge than the blue Beast or the pink Fairy Pokemon that were growing closer to the two of them.

"The death of a world..." Kyuushi's answer is plain, simple, her eyes rising to meet Hotaru's filled with fear and sadness both. Looking aside to the Suicune and Celebi after, before she registers that the portal the Doll had made was still open. "G-Grab my Pokedex from the House, then head into the Haven and start treating any who are injured, and record how many we've taken in and their species, please..."

"Right away, Lady Kyuushi." The Woman standing and rushing across the Lake to the homestead briefly. Exiting it after mere seconds and rushing for the portal she had opened, passing through it before letting it close. Leaving Kyuushi where she was, with the Suicune, Celebi, and Cyndaquil.

The larger of the three stepping closer and lowering itself down to meet her gaze, she can understand it wishes to aid her. Reaching one shaking hand to it and utilizing it's assistance to get up onto her feet, before climbing atop. Carefully keeping the Cyndaquil close and safe the whole while, as the Beast then gently strides for the beach at her gesturing of a direction. Celebi flying close and in front of Kyuushi, landing to sit with her and the Cyndaquil who, at a gentle touch to it's wounded snout, begins to heal.

[bijoupreciieux]

◤‧₊˚🌈🐶˚₊‧⁺˖◢  dorothy  grimaces  as  her  fingertips  brush  against  the  the  indents  left  on  her  temples  from  that  abhorrent  machine  they  used  on  her,  at  least  her  head  has  stopped  throbbing  so  badly  and  her  nausea  has  faded  but  her  memory  has  remained  fuzzy.  she  can  only  remember  bits  &&  pieces  of  her  morning  before  the  barbaric  treatment.  but  her  memories  of  oz  remain  strong  as  ever  thankfully.  of  course,  she'll  lie  when  they  ask  her  about  it.  she's  determined  to  get  out  of  this  place  one  way  or  another.

she  tries  to  remember  more  of  her  day,  and  the  one  before.  behind  her  closed  eyes  a  face  flashes,  big  brown  eyes  &&  blonde  hair.  she'd  seen  her  as  she  was  being  wheeled  to  that  room.  dorothy  doesn't  know  why  she  did  it  for  the  girl  was  stranger,  maybe  it  was  simply  because  she  was  afraid  but  she  tried  to  reach  out  to  her,  as  much  as  the  restraints  would  let  her  at  least.  of  course,  that  girl  couldn't  have  done  anything  for  her. 

now  as  she  watches  the  sky  darken  through  the  very  small  window,  she  gets  into  bed.  it's  very  uncomfortable  and  the  blanket  scratches  her  skin.  they  also  haven't  provided  her  with  a  bonnet  for  her  hair,  despite  her  asking  for  one.  in  spite  of  the  uncomfortable  enviornment,  she  does  fall  asleep.  when  she  wakes  up,  the  first  thing  she  feels  is  soft  grass  beneath  her.  the  very  air  itself  smells  sweet,  like  the  loveliest  flowers.  she  see  the  yellow  brick  road  as  well  through  the  trees  and  the  bizarre-beautiful  flowers  around  her,  flowers  she's  never  seen  in  real  life.  she's  wearing  her  blue  gingham  frock  once  again,  &&  the  ruby  slippers  as  well. 

dorothy  knows  she  should  get  to  the  familiar  path  and  make  her  to  the  emerald  city,  check  in  on  her  dear  friends  but  for  some  reason  she  doesn't.  last  time,  there  had  been  a  rush  to  get  to  the  city  &&  home  again.  now,  she  wants  to  explore  some  more  of  this  land.  she  walks  around  for  a  while,  trying  to  commit  every  little  detail  to  her  memory.  eventually  she  comes  across  tall  hedges  that  create  a  wall  that  seems  to  never  end  on  either  side.  dorothy  tries  to  find  an  entrance,  a  door  perhaps.  she  freezes  when  she  sees  a  vague  figure  through  the  thick  folliage.  blonde  hair.  ❝  hello?  ...  please  don't  be  afraid,  are  you...stuck  over  there?  my  name  is  dorothy  gale.  this  is  my  second  time  visiting  the  land  of  oz.  ❞ 

plotted starter for @dcmur3

[lanternburning19]

Inspired by @deathbyathousandcuts

[i-like-old-things]

*tear* Birthday Letter

“[translating the Bible] has also contributed greatly to support me in the trial I had to undergo by the Removal of Mrs. Thomson who departed this life in Septr. last after a long & gradual decline. Mr Dickinson also is gone with whom I have had a long & intimate friendship & with whom I promised myself the pleasure of spending some week in the Spring. In short I seem to be like an old tree stript [sic] of its folliage [sic] standing in a forest with very few of its own age & growth about it. However I have this to comfort me that there is a plentiful supply of thriving saplings & well grown timber trees to occupy my room & fill up my space when I fall.”

Charles Thomson to Thomas Jefferson, February 24, 1808

Y’all-

This letter-

I can’t-

The entire thing is philosophical but this one part in particular is the most heart-wrenching. At this time in Charles Thomson’s life, he had practically no one left. Hannah, his wife, had died in September of 1807 and John Dickinson had just died on February 14 (Valentine’s Day baby at its peak). Additionally, Thomson had no relatives (that’s a long story for another day) and most of the people he had known for quite some time were either dead or lived great distances away which, in Thomson’s condition by this point, were not worth travelling for. So, Thomson basically became isolated and stayed in his house.

Another aspect that makes this a real tear-jerker are the last 2 sentences quoted above. Thomson compares himself to an old tree and he describes new “thriving saplings & and well grown timber trees”. I see this as something I mentioned in another post: Thomson was a symbol of a past time that has little life left. With this being said, the inclusion of the new, younger trees proves to me that Charles Thomson had hope for the nation. Which just makes me even more sad because by this point, I think Charles Thomson knew he was dying.

Also, you might wonder why I call it the “Birthday Letter”. That’s because Charles Thomson decided to stab me in the heart even further by writing this on my birthday (many years before I was born but same date in the calendar year).

[foxspit]

G photographed by Foxspit

[cljordan-imperium]

FIND THE WORD TAG

I was tagged by: @traveler-of-realms

I am tagging: @on-noon, @ceph-the-ghost-writer, @writingpotato07 and @careful-pyromancer

Your words are: second, appoint, storage, full, miracle

My words were: opulent, wasteland, dire, gilded, and flimsy

So...away we go...

OPULENT

One moment they were in the hallway, the next they were in the opulent drawing room of the suite of rooms that was his within the new wing of the Palace.  Things were speeding and heating up between the two of them, and Adriel wanted some privacy.  Brushing her hair away from her ear, Adriel leaned forward and spoke low with his lips brushing softly against the shell of her ear.  “My Bella, if touching is what you wish, you are free to.” The backs of his fingers slowly stroked down her neck, and the soft gaspish intake of air he got in response hardened him instantly. 

WASTELAND

I do not have this on so will give you a bit of lore about Imperium.

-The center of the realm is Imperium City where the Royal Palace is located, but there is much beyond that. There are villages that are from various cultures and time periods in the Earthly Realm. Because there are some refugees from other realms there as well, there are scattered villages of those types. With those are about every kind of terrain you can imagine. The wildlife and folliage are far more dark and deadly than what can be found on Earth though, which is why any living human that comes into the Realm is to be protected by order of the Queen. If you kill or cause the death of a human, you are sentenced to the torture pits of Caligo. So take your human back to Earth first. Dead humans fall under the general laws of Imperium. Dead human bodies are just considered food by a lot of residents.

DIRE

“And if they touch you…” he cut himself off, he didn’t want to scare her.  He would cause great pain to anyone that touched her and positively kill anyone that hurt her.  A few visits and he was already to bring about ultimate suffering for her, but she was going to be the preeminent jewel in his proverbial crown.

“I would not wish to be them.” Since he did not finish, she did for him.  Even if she was not sure what he would do, there was something about the look that had flashed in his eyes that scared her a little on the inside.  He had never been anything but gentle with her, yet in that fraction of a second there was put into her a certainty that he could be capable of great and horrific violence.  It was something she never wanted to see, and hoped to never be the cause of.

“No, you would not.  But you, my beauty, never have to fear.”  He kissed her forehead softly, then the tip of her perfect nose, and then her petal soft lips.  “For you will be the most cherished and protected sprite in the history of all sprites.”  His arms around her tightened as he wondered inwardly exactly what did make him so affectionate and soft towards her, it was something he’d have to think on later to ensure that he was not allowing a weakness that others could exploit, possibly with dire consequences.

GILDED

Leandre had to have the bluest eyes she’d ever seen next to her sister’s.  They were far calmer than Phaedra’s, but he was far calmer so that made sense.  Yael was still surprised he’d stopped her and brought her to wherever they were with seemingly plain walls but a gilded crest over the mantle.  He also didn’t seem upset at all about her outburst at Adriel showing up.  He’d been patient and kind.  It was all so new to her and she didn’t know how to react.  Yael was even afraid of saying anything because she wasn’t sure what or how it would come out.  

“Why?  Why are you protecting me?  Just because of Brie?” She started to drop her eyes and head but Leandre’s hand moved so his fingers were under his chin and he wouldn’t let her.  His grip around her tightened to, holding her tighter against her.  For some reason it made her feel safer.  This man confused her, but for the first time in centuries that confusion did not come along with sheer and unadulterated terror.

FLIMSY

While Casperius had been gone from her forest, Martenique had began to look about the small hut that she called home.  It wasn’t fancy, but it sufficed for her needs.  At one end was a series of hooks that her dresses hung on.  They were spun by the spiders and silk worms that also called her forest home in exchange for treats that she provided them.  Each had their own special color of silk and so she always had beautiful things to wear, even if they seemed so light and flimsy compared to what Casperius always had on.  The few pairs of shoes and boots that she owned came from the village where she traded goods with others.  That was also where she saw her friends.  For the most part, she lived a solitary life, that was until that day Casperius had wandered into her life.   All of her footwear were forms of leather and some were lined with fur for the colder months to keep her feet warm. She took special care of all of her belongings to make them last.

[fallauween]

DSC01271 by Terry Spencer

Via Flickr: Old Forge Pond, Old Forge, New York

[orangeyougladitsautumn]

Autumn to-do list 2024!

Take a train trip to Riga

Drink a pumpkin spice latte

Go see Beetlejuice Beetlejuice with my little sister

Rewatch Beetlejuice

Go mushroom picking

Take a fall hike in folliage and do a picnic

Make pumpkin soup

Celebrate Halloween!

Watch autumnal movies/ TV shows (Hocus Pocus, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Practical Magic, Twilight, Knives Out, Coraline, Gilmore Girls, Gossip Girl autumn episodes lol)

[societysonlooker]

Listen I get hating tailgaters cause I hate them too, but just pull over and let them pass you ffs. I live in the middle of bumfuck nowwhere. There is 1 road in and out of town. It is a 50-55 mph road Except for the three one-mile stretches of Actual Towns (as in, a post office, a deli, maybe two or three other businesses). The road is curvy, and there are no passing lanes. It is a 25 miles stretch of road. We get a Lot of city-hailing eco tourists that dont actually know how to drive these kinds of roads especially at night. So, If I'm trying to get home at 11 at night and the road is Empty, and you are doing 35 mile's per fucking hour, TWENTY BELOW THE LIMIT, because you dont know what an End 30 sign means, I am GOING to line up behind you so fucking perfectly that my lights are in all of your mirrors. I won't even be that close to you! I am at least thirty feet behind. Youre just gonna fucking hate me and i hope you do. Get off the road. I want to go home and you shouldn't have a fucking license. This drive is NOT going to take an hour rather than 30 minutes because YOU don't know that both common courtesy and BEST PRACTICE DRIVING (as taught to me by BOTH state-licensed driving teachers ive had, one of whom was Hard Line "drive by the rules") is to pull tf over. If the tractors can do it, you can too motherfucker.

Do not get me started on people who don't pass tractors.

And here's the thing! You know WHY I don't get closer than 30 feet? Cause it's DANGEROUS. You know WHY you should pull over? Cause not everyone is a cranky researcher just trying to get home. There are street racers from the city who come out here for the "empty" roads. There is an alcoholic population in the double digits of our percentile. Every single person I went to highschool with had either seen a drink driving accident, been INVOLVED in one (hit my someone) or Personally Knew Someone involved in one. A lot of people aren't just pissed at you and trying to get you to pull over.

So if someone is tailgating you? pull over. Let them pass. Slowing down and agitating them is NOT worth the risk to your health if they keep driving so close behind you. Because even of you do it Slowly, they might not Notice the distance has gone from "yeah that'll show them" to "oh fuck I'm about to hit them" until it's Too Late. Especially if they're inebriated. If they are going to risk their neck speeding that's on them. Do not make the problem worse. They might be aggressive but you are instigating right back; and don't come after me for that logic because that's the EXACT logic behind "no fault" states like mine.

And here's the thing: if you don't want to pull over because there is a Line of cars behind you that you don't want to be stuck behind, ask yourself why that line is there. Are you just one car in a Much bigger line and this traffic is out if your control? My condolences. That sucks. Maybe gauge the situation and pull over anyway if you feel the driver behind you is a genuine risk to your safety.

But if there is no one in front of you, but a line of cars behind you? You are causing traffic and need to pull over. I literally could not care less if you're "just doing the speed limit" because you Probably Aren't. Either you misremembered/misread/misinterpreted a sign, or you missed a well-hidden sign indicating a speed limit change (even locals miss these! Especially new drivers and the elderly and double especially if it's spring/summer/fall and road signs are blocked by folliage! Or if you learned to drive these roads when the signs were blocked, and now in the winter when they're clear you stopped looking for them. I cannot begin to express to you just you how often that happens here. Personally, my experience with this means that when I'm driving somewhere new, if someone is tailgating me, I almost always let them pass me, and then i check the speed limit either with my gps or by looking for road signs. And usually? Guess what. Im doing the wrong speed).

But, ok, even if you are doing the limit, most people drive between the limit and about 5 mph over it, and when everyone is doing that, traffic flows normally and with an even dustribution, so its fine, and actually less dangerous than a High Traffic situation just 5mph slower. But You are going slower right now, and so You are causing the kind of traffic and conjestion that makes people act irrationally. And listen. I get it. "But the speed limit is there to keep people safe!" Youre right. It is. Velocity is far more important in collision equations than mass, and slowing speeds limits injuries on an exponential scale when accidents do happen. But right now, I don't think you know enough bad drivers, because speed is in no way shape or form everything about accidents. There are a LOT of other factors.

I have been in cars with people who terrified me so thoroughly that I made them pull over, sometimes by threatening to call the cops on them if they didnt pull over and let me or another friend drive. This has happened three times. And the thing was? Only one of them was actually speeding excessively. Amd, for reference, my father, a man with many qualities that should not be praised but whose driving I remain firmly neutral on (grab bag of really good learned skill and unnecessarily agressive behaviours), used to drive little me around doing 60 on 45 cutthroughs and 90 on 55mph highways. To top that, we're a motorcycle family and ive been riding passenger can it ik that not the term but these are my folks since i was twelve. For better or for worse, speed does not scare me. The people who DID scare me didn't scare me because of speed, they scared because of inattention, lack of control, and carelessness. Drifting side to side in their lane. Crossing lane lines. Crossing double yellows with oncoming traffic ahead. Merging without checking their mirrors while Being Passed By Other Cars, texting while driving and not realizing their speed is changing. Breaking almost too late. Hitting turns too fast and not having control. Hitting turns too fast on ice because they failrd to account for how it changes the road. THESE are the behaviors that get people into accidents. And while speeding can exponentially increase the Consequences of those accidents, preventing speeding doesn't actually prevent certain types of accidents, and personally, I'd rather that accident happen to a single speeding driver on a primarily empty stretch of road, where other drivers have time to react, slow down, and avoid becoming involved, than to have that driver hit three other cars from a line of traffic cause by a "Good Samaritan" who took it into their own hands to prevent speeding by Slowing Down In Front Of A Tailgater. Because either way, the accident happened, and maybe it was going to happen no matter what, or maybe it happened because no one was there to slow them down and make them realize their speed, or maybe it happened because the traffic irritated them and they got pissed off. Is that a defense for them? No, fuck that guy. But that's what happens, what happened, and no matter what, the traffic makes the outcome Worse. More people involved. More potential for secondary accidents. More harm to innocent casualties who were following or at least Mostly following best practices. And again, personally, I don't want three kids implicated in a massive accident when it could have been One adult making really bad decisions and facing the consequences themself.

This is also, mind you, not a hypothetical. We See this exact situation on our little town roads multiple times every year, and every year, we complain about too-slow city drivers causing traffic. And yes, of course we grieve when alcoholism and alcoholism culture leads yet another driver into hitting a tree or a deer or a guardrail at 80. Small town. Your sorrows are mine, and all that. We all probably knew the person, or knew someone who knew them. But when they hit a family's SUV we curse the driver without a seconds hesitation, because we know damn well they shouldnt have been doing what they were doing, and victim of cercumstance and addiction or not, someone who needed help or not, they caused a tragedy, and we pray for the family hurt because more often then not they dont make it out all alive and all healthy (for persoective, we've got multiple fundraisers every year for local kids who have been severely and even permanently dissabled by these kinds of accidents. There are four that my family goes to, and at least another three we can't ever make. And mind you, these are just the kids who's condition is severe enough to put the otherwise middle splash family into Crippling debt. The kind that means they can't care for their child).

And, more akin to my point, when these kinds of accidents happen because the family was doing 30 in a 50, or stuck in a line of traffic doing 30 in a 50, and the aggressive driver was doing 80 and didn't see them and thus couldnt respond until it was way too late, we rage at the fact that our road signs aren't fucking visible, because if that family had been doing the limit the accident probably wouldn't have literally crushed their car like a fucking soda can.

And mind you! This is not the family's fault. They were just doing their best and trying to be safe. But had they been doing the limit, had the road signs actuallu done their job, telling them that not only is the gently curving road ahead MORE than safe to do at 50 mph (because our roads are so wide, soeed limits are Below an actual "max safe speed" and more related to the population density, which, is cool. But os something ive found that only holds uo in rural communities), but to expect that other drivers will be doing 50, and that agressive bad drivers will probably be doing more than that, amd so to drive the limit to minimize harm, then the devastation might not have been as complete. Changing the difference in speed during a collision exponentially changes the difference in applied force, and in this case, changing that speed difference from 50 mph to 30 mph means a 400xpsi per pound difference in applied force. That kind of difference takes that car from a tin can full of broken necks to those smashed up "they survived" Subaru comercial SUVs.

(And before you say it, yes the community hates that these signs aren't visible (at least, those of us that know theyre there). We ask for then to be moved or cleaned up Every Year, and every year it's ignored in favor of literally anything else. They replace roads with no pot holes before they move signs, and the "reasons" are always shitty beaurocratic ones about private property and property rights)

Can you tell I've got a lot of feelings about driving?

The reality of driving is a lot more complicated than dmv approved "good driving vs bad driving" because actual good driving is about keeping yourself and others safe on the roads. And, as much as it might suck, that's gonna mean acknowledging that bad drivers exist, and doing what you cab to minimize the Damage of their behaviour, rather than trying to minimize the behavior.

The sollution to tailgaters and extreme (20mph+ over limit) speeders and innatentive and Dangerous drivers isn't to take law enforcement into your own hands and drive slower. It's not going to change the behaviour. It's going to piss them off. The sollution is increasing the requirements and drivers education level necessary to drive a car. It's for there to be government funding for these programs and tax bracket scholarships for this education so that this system doesn't disproproportionately affect people in poverty, who are already going to have enough difficulties with our car-centric system as is. The sollution involves legislation and income- based sliding scale speeding tickets. It's finding better ways to prevent inebriated driving, and no, I don't have the answers to that, cause all the answers I can think of are actually kinda ableist, which means I probably shouldn't be the person designing this.

I know this was a long read, but if nothing else:

TL;DR: Pull over. Let people pass you. Preserve your own health, the health of others, brush up on what road signs in your state actually mean, and for the love of the people, contact your local reps and maybe your highway dpt if you have concerns about your local roadways.

(And, on the off chance you have a street sign on your property, I dont care how lovely your bushes and trees are, prune them back so the sign is visible 100-200 feet down the road).

favorite hobby when I'm driving is to catch someone trying to climb up my back bumper while I'm going a completely reasonable speed and just slowly take my foot off the gas. you seem upset, brother. why don't we slow down and enjoy the view awhile