#especially true pre-industrialization

[chialattea]

What will win:

my desire to write DA fics

vs

my seething hatred for medieval stereotypes (“haha they thought bathing was bad!!” “haha their streets were filthy and they threw wastewater out of their windows”)

[tortoise-teapot]

i swear i listen to other genres but i'm just going to keep making high brow looking playlists with electronic music until ppl start to take it seriously

[seat-safety-switch]

Copper theft is the fastest-growing industry in our country. Whereas before you had to work an entire week of a job you hate, now you can just head to your local substation and grab some wire. Is it live? Maybe. Are you going to be the first person to get there? Statistically, no. Like Dr. Seuss once said: the early bird gets fucking charred, and then the bird who shows up about 15 minutes later and steps through the pre-cut hole in the fence and over the smoking corpse gets $11.63 in copper.

Now, you might think that it is depressing that so many people in our society are driven to destroying parts of the infrastructure in order to survive. And that is true. Even though running from guard dogs is good cardio, the current state of affairs is meeting few of local government's standards for proper functionality. We all pay for the cost of this theft, from elevated taxes to jacked-up power company service fees. The latter is especially tragic, as the amount that the fees are jacked up would otherwise go entirely to executive compensation instead of replacing some Romex.

Me, I'm doing my part. By driving a car that features as little wiring as possible, thieves aren't lured to steal it, and I won't have to buy more copper in order to replace that stolen wire. The planet will be that little bit happier knowing that an open-pit copper mine on the other side of the planet will fill underground aquifers up with horrific man-made solvents slightly slower due to my reduction in demand. And I've made exciting advancements in the field of using old coat hangers to replace some of that copper, too. I'm not gonna pass up a chance to make some extra money, after all, even if I do have to live with extremely dim headlights and wipers that only work on one side. Thieves made it like this, officer. I'm innocent.

[ranticore]

you stated before that centaurs had geldings; what was their place in the culture? did their existence persist in ironwall? do they exist in the modern day?

yayyyy ironwall.. i need to get back on that horse and draw more stuff for it

gelding as a practice dates back to the pre-florian era but it was quite rare. sometimes it would be done as punishment against rival stallions, sometimes undertaken willingly for spiritual or gender confirmation reasons, the context varied with no true universal use case or belief about what kind of person would result although it was a generally accepted belief that a gelding did not threaten a stallion so wasn't considered in the herd hierarchy as one

in the early creation of Ironwall it wasn't really much of a thing either, it actually took a century or more for the key florian beliefs to become internalised within the population - suddenly it wasn't just "these strict christian standards are being imposed on us", it was "these are OUR strict christian standards and we find fulfilment in this". when the citizens took florian beliefs and ran with them, they attained a level of strict fanaticism which even florian himself could never have dreamed of.

gelding in ironwall was a part of a cultural push to 'tame' and quote unquote civilise stallions and to turn their minds to the acceptable life pursuits of obedience, hard work, humility, and self-denial. as such it was considered ideal for military service especially with the added bonus of reducing the number of hierarchy squabbles in a military unit. nearly all centaur knights in the renaissance period were geldings & particularly devout adherents to chivalry. the effect of the procedure on strength & muscle mass was considered an acceptable trade-off. it has to be said, however, that any behavioural changes beyond a reduction in sexual desire were most likely psychosomatic. (this was later acknowledged as fact by historians, to great backlash from the naturalist movement of the late 20th century who were strict believers of centaur gender bioessentialism and taught that unaltered stallions were basically rage monsters by nature but like that's a cool and good thing just accept it ok)

anyway by the georgian period it wasn't particularly in vogue anymore outside of limited contexts (members of the clergy, castrati, etc). opinions of florian-era fanaticism had changed and the new hot thing was fetishising ancient greece & rome instead of course, because these are georgians we're talking about and that's their bread and butter. the window for acceptable standards shifted towards stallions who were procreative within their groups, patriarchs. this aligns with the formation & growth of a Middle Class, but also with certain families of centaurs in Ironwall now having attained some generational wealth and power, and an incentive to cling onto it (and you can't pass the nice townhouse to your kids if you are infertile). the industrial era saw a concentration of labour demand in Ironwall and some fears that there would not be sufficient population growth to meet it, sooooo

it continued to be used as a punishment until the mid-20th century, particularly against stallions who were caught starting too many fights in public (they would be sent to workhouses, too, which was the answer to every social ill from the victorian era onwards), and also against adult homosexuals.

[glasshcvse]

ficswap for @pickmedolls !

(D)OLLIES  is  the  first  mini-album  by  a  fictional  girl  group,  PICK  ME!,  known  for  blending  bold  rebellion  with  a  playful  charm.  the  album  was  considered  a  collaboration  with  GLASSHOUSE  INC.,  home  of  the  renowned  producer  GLOOMY,  who  took  the  lead  in  producing  it.  

the  album  reflects  its  core  themes  of  individuality  and  breaking  free  from  societal  expectations.  the  six  songs  feature  a  dynamic  mix  of  pop,  hip-hop,  and  dance,  capturing  a  spirit  of  confidence  and  empowerment.  the  group  released  their  debut  single,  ANGEL  OF  MY  DREAMS,  on  april  20th,  2022,  which  was  also  included  in  the  mini.  key  tracks  include  BADITTUDE,  a  powerful  pre-released  anthem  celebrating  self-assurance  and  defiance,  and  TALK  THAT  SHHH,  which  highlights  staying  true  to  oneself  and  embracing  authenticity.  

(D)OLLIES  received  mixed  reactions.  knetizens  thought  this  album  was  a  dig  at  them  for  judging  the  members  for  the  previous  rumours  and  callouts  they  made  about  the  girls.  at  the  same  time,  international  fans  praised  the  group  for  their  fresh  sound  and  empowering  message,  establishing  PICK  ME!  as  a  standout  figure  in  the  music  scene.

album inclusions. ( they might have )

photo booklet + folded poster ( 1ea ) + sticker sheet ( 1ea ) + lyric booklet with illustrations + miniature dollhouse set + postcard ( random member ver. ) + photocards ( random two out of five ).

track list. ( analysis cr. to /plasticflwrs )

ANGEL OF MY DREAMS ... described  as  a  'shape-shifting  banger',  the  song  explores  the  group's  love/hate  relationship  with  the  pop  industry  they've  been  at  the  heart  of  since  their  survival  show.  *there  has  been  lots  of  speculation  that  this  song  is  about  their  former  companies,  especially  with  the  line  "sold  my  soul  to  a  psycho"  could  be  directly  linked  to  that  rumour.

BADITTUDE ... is  all  about  owning  your  confidence  and  standing  up  for  yourself.  lines  like  "girls  with  that  bad  attitude"  highlight  the  power  of  embracing  your  true  self  and  rejecting  anyone  who  tries  to  bring  you  down.  it's  an  anthem  for  anyone  who's  ever  felt  misunderstood  or  pushed  aside,  encouraging  them  to  embrace  their  unique  edge  with  pride.

TALK THAT SHHH ... is  a  declaration  of  self-confidence  and  authenticity.  the  lyrics  focus  on  staying  true  to  who  you  are  despite  the  noise  and  expectations  from  the  outside  world.  the  chorus  evokes  a  sense  of  intimacy  and  self-assurance.  it’s  about  confidently  owning  your  individuality  and  living  life  on  your  own  terms,  celebrating  the  freedom  to  express  yourself  fully  and  unapologetically.

DIE FOR ME ... portrays  a  bold  and  confident  female  character  who  enjoys  having  control  over  her  partner  and  demands  their  submission  and  admiration.  the  song's  lyrics  suggest  a  sensual  and  intense  dynamic  between  two  individuals  but  with  a  hint  of  danger  and  risk.

SO WHAT ... is  all  about  shaking  off  the  weight  of  overthinking  and  self-criticism.  it’s  a  reminder  to  not  get  stuck  down  by  worries  and  to  take  life  a  little  easier.  the  chorus,  with  its  “so  what?”  attitude,  is  a  push  to  let  go  of  perfectionism  and  just  be  okay  with  things.  it’s  about  allowing  yourself  to  slow  down,  make  mistakes,  and  not  sweat  the  small  stuff.

FINDER ... is  the  desire  to  break  free  from  routine  and  monotony  and  to  explore  new  possibilities.  the  lyrics  reflect  that  despite  the  fear  of  the  unknown  or  the  dangers  of  pursuing  their  dreams,  the  group  strives  to  overcome  their  fears  and  take  action  to  obtain  a  better  life.  they  urge  others  to  take  their  hand  and  join  them  on  this  adventure.

poster.

[weaselandfriends]

K-On! and Fascism

Cool discussion on the Alexander Wales discord today about how slice of life and pastoral fantasy has become commonly associated with the alt-right and fascism (see various memes about how everyone who likes K-On! is a fascist). This led to Gazemaize, the author of Chili and the Chocolate Factory, to post this excerpt from Orwell's review of Mein Kampf:

Also he has grasped the falsity of the hedonistic attitude to life. Nearly all western thought since the last war, certainly all ‘progressive’ thought, has assumed tacitly that human beings desire nothing beyond ease, security and avoidance of pain. In such a view of life there is no room, for instance, for patriotism and the military virtues. The Socialist who finds his children playing with soldiers is usually upset, but he is never able to think of a substitute for the tin soldiers; tin pacifists somehow won’t do. Hitler, because in his own joyless mind he feels it with exceptional strength, knows that human beings don’t only want comfort, safety, short working-hours, hygiene, birth-control and, in general, common sense; they also, at least intermittently, want struggle and self-sacrifice, not to mention drums, flags and loyalty-parades. However they may be as economic theories, Fascism and Nazism are psychologically far sounder than any hedonistic conception of life. The same is probably true of Stalin’s militarised version of Socialism. All three of the great dictators have enhanced their power by imposing intolerable burdens on their peoples. Whereas Socialism, and even capitalism in a more grudging way, have said to people ‘I offer you a good time,’ Hitler has said to them ‘I offer you struggle, danger and death,’ and as a result a whole nation flings itself at his feet. Perhaps later on they will get sick of it and change their minds, as at the end of the last war. After a few years of slaughter and starvation ‘Greatest happiness of the greatest number’ is a good slogan, but at this moment ‘Better an end with horror than a horror without end’ is a winner. Now that we are fighting against the man who coined it, we ought not to underrate its emotional appeal.”

This assessment of course makes sense. Actual fascism, i.e. Hitler and Mussolini, was an outgrowth of futurism, and had an almost fetishistic love of the machine and its power, even (or especially) its power for war and destruction. The fascists saw themselves as "new men," ubermensches who turned away from Christian traditionalism toward a new ideal suited for modernity. Fascism was, in effect, a modern (at the time) philosophy, not one positing a glorious retvrn to some pre-industrial pastoral existence.

Compare that to today's conception of the fascist and alt-right as retvrners who want to reachieve some "lost" past ideal. It's actually the complete opposite ideology. Is K-On! fascist (or do fascists like it) for its idealization of a traditional core, clean and secure and devoid of any "other"? Because based on Orwell's conception of fascism, K-On! and other slice of life shows are actually anti-fascist. The girls of K-On! are tin pacifists for people to play with - and people actually choose to play with them over tin soldiers.

This aesthetic confusion of fascism and traditionalism reminds me of this meme:

A mixing of wires where idyllic, pacifistic entertainment can be seen as a launching point for either the far-left or far-right makes me wonder what is truly causing these groups to cleave apart, what causes people to believe the things they believe. I can't say I know the answer, or even have any definitive conclusions beyond pointing this out. It's something to think about, at least.

[aihoshiino]

Idk but onk is such a let down for me. In the beginning I liked story because it was about ai. Her kids getting in entertainment industry and the revenge thingy were main plot from the starting so ultimately it is suppose to be about Ai, directly or indirectly.

By the end the story got less about ai and more about people around ai. There is SO MUCH about ai yet to explore but because of the writing I can't even enjoy ai as much as i used to. The "i love you" to aqua ruby kind of lost his full essence after the ai's dvd was shown, and that dvd later lost its essence due to last chs.

Onk showed the issues with entertainment industry well. The main issue is that onk never tackles problems with its character. Like Ai's true self, Hikaru (still not sure what to think of him), hikai, ruby and aqua relation (after the damn kiss), miyako and ichigo, ruby's dvd left by ai and etc. which i still feel are alien and mysterious to us. And we surely won't get answers in one last ch. Hikaru had potential to be a great character but everything is just all over the place.

Idk man i just feel very disappointed that aka's build up had so much potential yet we didn't get anything satisfactory in the end.

TBH, to a degree, I actually think this is a natural progression & if the series had stuck the landing, it could have been a really good and poignant way to resolve Aqua and Ruby's shared arc in relation to Ai. Because the thing is, like... as much as I like Ai, Aqua and Ruby's arc SHOULD ultimately have been about them being able to move on and start expanding the scope of their lives until it contained things beyond her. The story should never have stopped centering her because she is, ultimately, the heart of the story and its titular character, but OnK hammers in this idea of 'moving towards the future' and not letting your past trauma control your life to the extent that it robs you of the ability to have one. So I do think that in a more well-realized version of the story, that growing distance from Ai would be bittersweet but necessary for Aqua and Ruby to reclaim their futures.

BUT... Obviously, that's not the ending we got and the result is an ending that weirdly simultaneously deifies her while also not really involving or centering her at all? Like I've pointed out, so much of Ruby's resolution revolves around shallow parallels to Ai's general imagery and vibes but the actual resolution to the story isn't really about Ai at all aside from her being Kamiki's motivation and even then, that's all so poorly explained that it doesn't really have any weight.

That said, I actually feel as an Ai fan that she was ultimately done really well by the manga and I don't really feel like there was a whole lot about her left unexamined? Like yeah, as an Ai Wife Guy I'd love to hear more about stuff like how she felt about her pregnancy and how all that just went down in general and maybe some more stuff about her time in gen 1 B-Komachi but otherwise I feel really satisfied with the stuff we got. 136-7 especially were SO fucking cathartic for me because they put into undeniable, explicit text the thing I'd been saying all along; that there was no 'real' Ai hidden under the one that we knew and the secret part of herself that Ai was so desperately trying to hide was just that she was a normal, fragile girl who was struggling and hurt and that her tragedy was the result of everyone in her life either failing or actively refusing to accept her as she was.

My only real complaint is that I don't like how the manga ultimately (accidentally?) makes her totally irrelevant to the answer of why GRSR were reincarnated as her children and the result is that it kind of turns her into just a convenient uterus who happened to come pre-installed with babies - that's kind of gross, especially in comparison to just how she's treated as an equally important part of the puzzle but that's what my "Ai is the entertainment god's beloved chosen maiden" headcanon comes in and all is right with the world again <3

[kanohivolitakk]

Controversial take but. Fnaf is the closest we have gotten to 2010s/2020s equvalient of Bionicle. Yes, even more than Hero Factory, Ninjago, Chima, Lego Monkie Kid, Rebel Nature, Greg Farshtey's "Legacy", Xenoblade Chronicles, that one indie adventure game inspired by Bionicle, Ascending Depths and all those Afterman spiritual successors Bionicle fans have tried to make in the past few years. Yes, even more than those obscure cult classic JRPGs I have compared Bionicle to in the past.

Because Bionicle and Fnaf both:

Started relatively simple with a strongly effective unique premise at the center before gradually expanding into a sprawling narrative

Caught the audiences attention by presenting a captivating mystery from the get go that drove curiosity and intrigue

Because of the above, the community is heavily based on theorycrafting and speculation, with many fans trying to figure out the mystery of the story.

Are surprisingly storydriven in mediums/genres generally not associated with stories

Became popular overnight, creating a sort of cultural zeitgeist

Were a last-ditch effort by their creators who at time were struggling financically (Bioncle was released at the height of Legos dark/dork era, while Fnaf was Scott Cawthons last attempt at making a game before opting out of the industry)

Have (one of) their creator be relatively actively engaged with the community, interacting with the fans much to their fans amusement and frustration.

Pretty much were among the fiction that popularized the "lore" as a concept.

Get retconned and coursecorrected to hell and back, but not to the extent fans may think.

Experienced gradual tonal and genre-shift from one genre with scifi elements to more full on scifi.

As years went on, the unique appeal of the series (tropical island high fantasy for Bionicle, horror for Fnaf) were diluted because of aforementioned genre-shift to the point some people hate the later era and vastly prefer the earlier years.

In addition the mystery elements were diluted either answering everything or by complicating the story.

Heavily rely their storytelling on supplemental material on their later years, especially books.

Cryptic and vague at times to the point of frustrating

Have a main villain whose portrayal changed from simple to more complicated mastermind. Both main villains also had initially their name hidden, before their true name was revealed later on.

In spite of having its appeal be in its robot-characters, plotdriven instead of character driven

Also gradually drove away from the characters center of the appeal (Toa/the main four animatronics) to those who were involved in the origins of the story.

Had a satisfying ending (Journeys End/Pizza Sim), but still continued past that, including elements that the fans hate.

These post ending content had the main antagonist be a deeply lore-important impersonator who made the lore more complicated than it should be (Velika/Mimic)

Have a pseudo soft reboot people have...very mixed to negative feelings on (Bara Magna for Bionicle, Steel Wool era for Fnaf)

Have a fictional element act as a central mcguffin of the story (Protodermis and Remnant/Agony respectively) which is frustratingly vague and poorly explained.

Have a rather dedicated transformative fandom who make new additions to the larger mythos, or expand on the pre-existing lore. The creators actively support this, and have even endorsed fancreations or made some fan-elements official.

The creators simutaneously plan everything ahead and are a hack. At the same time

There are probably more but those are the ones I think of at the top of my head

[starfleetshrimps]

i love star trek bc it's actually a high school theater production most of the time. We focus a lot on the over-acting, theatricality of the actors and the directors, and that's all well and amazing, but /I/ want to focus on the /TECH/ bc ASHAijnjsdnbhgaARREghghhuuagjkshdmhbAHJBSSHJHIEJBnkjsdjhbsdhjBmahbsjshsbHkjnswkjshsn yea.

FIRST THE SETS?!? they're so silly and stupid? i know they get a lot of shit but the amount of work (not to mention styrofoam) that went into building individual sets for each planet they went to? like sure about 50% of the away missions take place in the california desert (the arena, *cough cough*, etc) but the rest of them have individually made sets that look PRETTY GOOD MAN. they get the point across, they're FUN, and innovative, and they really don't reuse planet sets all that often as well.

PLUS they used traditionally /theatrical/ cycloramas with painted backgrounds and classical cyc lighting (reminiscent of mariano fortuny's domed cyc! i WILL talk more about lighting) which look really cool and once again get shit for being unrealistic.

it's not supposed to look realistic it's supposed to look cool as shit. and it does. shut up. <3

if you view the sets as being modern TV sets then yeah, they're weird, and they look sorta bad, but THEYRE NOT modern TV sets: they're THEATRICAL SETS FROM THE 60-70S. AND I LOVE THEM.

SECONDLY, THE

lighting

while it's true that some shows in the 60s were developing new lighting styles specifically for TV, remember that in the year 1950 less that 10 percent of US homes had a television. this shit was new. COLOR tv was ESPECIALLY new. nobody knew how to light these things! and actually why would you need a new lighting style, we already KNEW how to light dramatic productions, why would we ever need to reinvent the wheel Stanley Mccandles, Mariano Fortuny, and Gene Rosenthall already invented says Gene Roddenberry and Jerry Finnerman (the head lighting designer). and oh my god i am so ridiculously glad. because the lighting. is so good.

i HAVE seen others talking about how good it is in the super early episodes (Charlie X and the conscious of the King, etc.) and i do agree! but i disagree that the quality goes down. i think it just got a tad bit more subtle as the show went on and it gets less in your face, harder to notice. but i noticed. because I'M the WORST (and also a lighting tech)

the impossibility of listing every example of amazing theater lighting choice they made is absolutely horrific and nasty so i'll just lost some my my favorites:

the cyc! i mentioned before but the cyc they used on away missions was only painted when they needed a specific scene in the background, otherwise? that bitch was LIT. and i LOVE IT.

any of the scenes where they light spock's face have green and half pink? or even just washing the walls behind him? i eat that shit UP. the METAPHOR. the CONFLICT. i will acquiesce that green and pink are (and were) pretty goddamn industry standard gels (color-films) to add to lights, for subtle contrast, but this is not subtle. it is LOUD. was it purposefully done from a storytelling perspective? no idea. is it cool as shit and interpret-able as hell? absolutely. also sometimes they do it with just green when they want to emphasize his vulcan-ness and other him a bit. like they do it a lot when he's in his room in amok time. anyway.

whenever they shutter a light so they can emphasize a character's (kirk, we're talking abt kirk here. and *sometimes* spock, and also Charlie in Charlie X but yeah mostly kirk) eyes when they say something #Deep, or just pre-commercial break closure worthy line. it's so SHJSDJBFEJNKN. to add onto this, they'll do a striking half-wash over half of their face sometimes in conjunction and it looks So Good

The GOBOS. sometimes, they'll just throw light through a gobo, or wall screen, or something, for /visual interest/ and it looks so silly i love it sm. does it make sense from a realism pov? nO. but star trek is a theater production actually and they lit everything using mainly naturalistic techniques! amazing!

honorable mentions: the glowing time donut, and the entirely random colors in the hallway.

there are so many other examples but this post is long enough lmao. notice the lights next time you watch tos!!,! please!!! <3

[kandisheek]

FIC REC WEEK 27 – NO POWERS

This Love I Hold True by justanotherrollingstony (adoctoraday)

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: T Words: 3,219 Tags: Marriage Proposal, College AU, Pre-Serum Steve

Summary: Tony and Steve have known and loved each other for years, and now it's time to make it official.

Reasons why I love it: I never knew that I needed to see Steve ripping into Howard like that, but boy howdy, it's so satisfying. I love both Steve's and Tony's perspectives in this, and the proposal scene just feels perfect for them. This fic is absolutely lovely, and I hope you check it out for yourself!

He Blinded Me With Science by youcancallmearrow

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: G Words: 9,220 Tags: Office AU, Found Family, Fluff

Summary: The Security Admin Department at Stark Industries has a point system in place to pass the time. +10 points for tagging management with a "Kick Me" post it note +10 points for paging a punny fake name over the office intercom without getting caught +10 points for stealing any office supplies off Clint's desk and returning it in jello +20 points for making Steve swear It's a good thing productivity isn't in the job description.

Reasons why I love it: This is the kind of Avengers team I love to see! They're giving family vibes left and right, and I love how they basically adopt Tony and Bruce instantly. And the Stony in this one is cute as hell, plus I'm giving extra points for morally upstanding decision-making regarding workplace romances. This fic is wonderful, and you should definitely read it!

The weather outside is frightful by BladeoftheNebula

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: T Words: 5,552 Tags: A/B/O, Snowed In, Courtship

Summary: “I can’t believe this!” Steve paused, his hand hovering over the piece of firewood. Was that—? “Of all the idiotic, selfish—“ The last of the words were cut off by the wind, but that was definitely a voice. Steve frowned. The voice was too clear to be coming from a truck or a car, which meant they must be on foot. He looked at the heavy fall of the snow. No one should be out in this. Or, Tony is an omega in distress, and Steve is just the alpha-in-shining armour he needs.

Reasons why I love it: Yeees, give me all the mountain man Steve! Neb always writes fantastic A/B/O settings, and this one is no exception! I love how respectful Steve is, especially in contrast with Ty, that weasely ass. And Tony is adorable, as usual. I love this fic so much, and I bet you will too, so I hope you give it a shot!

When Love Comes Knocking (You Out) by itsallAvengers

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: T Words: 8,591 Tags: Meet-Ugly, Parent Tony, Misunderstandings

Summary: Steve really just wanted to buy some goddamn groceries. Instead, he tries to help a kid who's managed to get lost in a Walmart parking lot and ends up being punched in the face by his irate and panicked father. Surprisingly, this doesn't turn out as badly as it sounds.

Reasons why I love it: Oh Steve, in today's day and age you should've known what was coming to you. I love this entire premise, and protective single dad Tony is always a treat. Also love the bad boy vibes Steve is giving off throughout the whole thing, it's a really cool take on his character in modern times. This fic is fantastic, and you should definitely read it!

What Could've Been by itsallAvengers

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 11,047 Tags: Canon Divergence, Palladium Poisoning, Service Top Steve

Summary: So. Tony's dying. Palladium poisoning is a shitty, painful way to go, but hey: at least it's his birthday party, right? A cool send off. Lots of alcohol and fun and girls and- ...And all Tony wants is Steve Rogers, the stupid Art Professor who used Tony for a booty call now and again and whom Tony had stupidly decided to start falling in love with. Whilst in the middle of getting slowly poisoned to death. God, he wished his life was easier.

Reasons why I love it: This fic is so sad and so beautiful at the same time. All the little signs of how much they care for each other just make my heart melt. I love Steve's reaction to seeing Tony's chest for the first time, and the dialogue throughout the entire fic is incredible. Definitely check this one out, it's so good!

[sgiandubh]

Mordor says He returned only for Visa reasons. They did some math and understood that Sam had been there for almost 90 days, só It was time for a quick walk home.

Dear Visa Anon,

Which Mordor luminary came with this idea? The MENSA-level CRT Clique or Miss Marple, who thinks I know nothing (the Dimwit from Madrid is still learning how to spell, so I can't believe it's her)?

Regardless. These people should immediately stop watching Ninety-Day Fiancé on their cable network, following a severe overdose on Uzbek midgets and Egyptian gigolos 'looking for true love' stories.

Maybe they could also have checked their facts before solemnly stating bullshit, since they clearly think all the visitors to the wonderful U S of A are tourists and as such, entitled to a maximum 90-day stay at a time (and then a short hike to Tijuana or Canada and back on tracks: not EDI/GLA, FFS!).

Incidentally, may I remind these geniuses that S has been spotted only near EDI, which of course would mean for them he'd be getting his visa there. Unless...

Unless you know the US General Consulate in EDI does not issue any type of visas - LOL, idiots. And unless he'd need to be in LHR for the pre-appointed interview and then another 7 working days delay for processing and 1-3 working days for passport delivery by mail only (never in person, chickadees). Doesn't really click with timelines, Madam Expert.

Because they are all very intelligent, they also forgot everything about/never bothered to look for the new-ish ESTA system (https://www.handyvisas.com/esta-us-visa/british/), especially designed for Visa Waiver countries' citizens. So I insist: if traveling as a tourist, S does not need a visa to enter the US for up to 90 days - that is correct, but by no means applicable to S's reality. And if he knew he'd need to stay more than 90 days, he would have applied for a visa - mandatory - in London before the Summer of Sassenach tour.

But he is not traveling as a tourist and very probably not under another type of non-immigrant visa, simply because he has businesses there and he is also involved in the OL project with *** (d'oh!).

Let's unpack:

As per US current regulations, S cannot apply for a B-1 (business non immigrant visa). To understand why, kindly refer to the US Customs and Border Protection FAQ (https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/B-1%20permissible%20activities.pdf). I already munched it up for you:

He could only apply for a O-1 B immigration visa, for which his agent or employer should mandatorily petition the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. These are special visas designed for the individual who (...) has a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry and has been recognized nationally or internationally for those achievements. This is very subjective and a contract with * should be enough - I was in a taxi when I received your ask and immediately checked with a friend from the US Consulate, to indulge you. And all this hassle just because a Tumblr Nobody has flatulent opinions, huh?

According to the USCIS's own regulations, not Dutch fantasy or Belfast sagas, the authorized period of stay and possibility of extension are as follows (https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/o-1-visa-individuals-with-extraordinary-ability-or-achievement):

The good thing about getting this visa (and I think * sorted it out a long time ago for both of them) is that it helps tremendously with the Green Card procedures, something I bet the farm both S & C already have, by now.

So doing the maths was perfectly inane and useless.

Does that answer your question, clever Anon? Can I go back to the Quaich post I must finish (it will be VERY long, beware) today?

Thanks for asking and I am sorry for the length: this fandom being paranoid, I had to include all the tedious details. I hope we can put this idiocy to rest, now. Parochial twits.

[elbiotipo]

Workbuilding Fundamentalist question: when it comes to dates, times and calendars in a fantasy setting where do you stand? I'm always conflicted as a writer just because changing the length of a year or what all the months are called all makes sense given that most fantasy worlds aren't earth and because every month is named after a person or deity and our calendar has been changed like 7 times in the real world. And yet I don't want to throw all this extra work at the reader.

Example I have a gas dwarf planet with like, winderwaker islands poking out above the gaseous ocean what people live on. And there's only 4 months in a year there so a 64 year old is still a teenager and it just seems like a lot to make someone keep track of.

First of all, very cool setting, I love islands among the clouds! Now, this is actually something I've given a lot of thought into, and might become a real concern if humanity goes to other planets.

There's, for example, an opening line of a Heinlein novel (IIRC) where a girl says she's 10 years old and thus old enough to marry, which is true, on Mars (the year is 687 days there). There is no reason, if one is designing a new planet, or even finding one IRL, to expect it to have the same day and year lenght to Earth, not even close. Mars with 21 hours is pretty close, but the length of our year and day is really just a cosmic coincidence. You could easily have an reasonably earth-like planet with shorter years (because it's closer to its star, or just revolves faster), or longer days or years.

However, very few fictional settings bother with this, and it's not hard to see why, you can have all sorts of exotic additions to your setting, but to wrap our head through different lenghts of the year or the day is a bit too much. Even different week lenghts, which did exist on history, sound strange. There are all sorts of different fantasy and sci-fi calendars, but at the root, most authors operate with "Earth-time". I don't blame them, it is 'extra work' for some readers, and it's not easy to wrap our head around, it's easier to say "this is sort of an alternate Earth" and be done with it. Also, to lenghten or shortern the year or day might bring all sorts of consequences from ecology to climate that should be considered, otherwise it's just a lame gimmick in my opinion.

HOWEVER, it's still an interesting piece of worldbuilding to consider!

Calendars of a sort have existed since humans started to count seasons and days, but our current society where there are calendars and clocks everywhere is quite recent, actually. I'm sure you are aware of the different calendars besides the BCE-CE one was imposed as the standard, many cultures . But there are also different ways of counting years;. The classic one is seasons, farming societies of course need it the most but hunter-gatherers also follow and know the seasons. There is no reason at all for them to correspond to the "temperate" seasons (summer, fall, winter, spring). Dry and wet seasons, cold and summer, and other options are not only possible, but have actually been widespread on human history. I recommend reading on Wikipedia about seasons, especially the section about non-calendar based seasons.

Of course the above applies to pre-industrial civilizations where timekeeping isn't as widespread. But even in those, counting years and ages is treated differently. Birthdays, for example, don't exist in all cultures. Koreans still count age based on the Korean new year, not your birthday. Some medieval Christian celebrated on the feast of the saint they were named after (and there are lots of them) or IIRC, their baptism. And so, a culture as yours might use different ways of counting the age of a person, perhaps by more "qualitative" rituals than just counting the years (though I have a feeling they would quickly adapt to their own calendar). Much like I told you about different kinds of seasons for different climates, I imagine that in worlds where the years are too short (or too long) to really make sense for the average person, some other ways of counting time will prevail. For example, are there predictable climate cycles in your planet? Moons (lunar calendars are always fun)? I can assume your planet has shorter years because it's closer to your star (by any chance, did you base it on red-dwarf orbiting planets?), so perhaps you could use something regarding the very visible star to count time?

Like I said at the beginning, this will be a real concern when humanity expands through space, and there's even a bit of debate if the human body can adapt to such heavy changes on its circadian rhytm. In any case, my prediction is that there would be a "Earth time", that is, 24-hours day and 365 day year, that is kept as standard out of convenience and in spaceships and space habitats (in my own setting Campoestela, it's called "ship time" because human spaceships use it as standard) and lots of "local times" on different planets with all the quirks I mentioned above, with everyone going into space learning how to convert their own time to "Earth time". Or maybe, to make things even more fun and, admittedly, complicated to the reader, the time of another time is taken as a standard. There's lots to play with here.

DON'T even ask me about relativistic time (like in Interstellar) because it makes my head hurt, even if I did use it a couple times on my stories. But "ship time" might be a real thing. Some cultures might have completely different 'times', not calendars, actually *times*, depending on relativistic time delation.

BTW anon, sorry for using this to promote myself, but if anyone loved this rant and would like to see more, I would appreciate some tips on my ko-fi (given the situation down here, now more than ever) and suggestions for other topics to talk about!

[sailorgundam308]

how is karlach coded as a person of color? genuine question

In terms of character design and representation: she has southeast Asian, even pacific islander (depending on the area ofc) features. Does that mean there are “asians” or “Europeans” in Toril? No. But visual representation of real groups is huge for people’s self validation. That said, southeast Asian peoples are a wide and varied group but they stand in contrast to the “white Asia” of Korea and Japan (and China to some extent), for example. The “white” Asia is rich, desirable, stylish, culturally relevant in the global stage - and their skin is whiter, to top it off. On the other hand, SEA is seen (not only in the west but ESPECIALLY in these rich Asian countries) as poor, underdeveloped, inconsequential - and darker skinned. No surprised there.

In Asia you might not have the concept of White as in White US Americans, because whiteness is a social construct that will change depending on the location and cultural/historical context. What US people understand as white and poc might differ from what other people in other countries understand it as. Still, in East Asia being literally lighter skinned is the desired beauty ideal and brings with it all the highly privileged misconceptions of “if you’re light skinned, you’re richer, more educated, more well behaved, more beautiful” and so on. SEA peoples have, in general, darker skin tones - therefore, they miss (to say the least) on these “advantageous pre-conceptions”. Also, even within certain SEA countries, being lighter than another is a desirable thing. There is an entire beauty industry here based on “whitening”. Literally making your skin look whiter, because that is more “beautiful and cleaner”. (In Japan, the amount of things you can get to cover your skin from the sun is not due to any cancer concerns, I guarantee you.)

Karlach, having features reminiscent to some SEA people, puts her in this dynamic. Not because this dynamic exists inside the BG3 world, but because the people with whom her character design (her face design at least) resonates are those same people who are seen as less than due to their geographic location and tone of their skin.

I also am under the impression that in some countries, Asian people are also commonly included in the “poc” umbrella, though I cannot be sure where this is true and even if that depends on “what Asia” you are from.

If you get into Forgotten Realms, and Toril lore, things get even more layered, because Karlach is a tiefling. And tieflings are discriminated against for their appearance - something that comes from their heritage and they have no control over. Tieflings are plane touched people, meaning their ascendancy is made of humans mixed with devils/cambions. Is basically because their blood has some devil blood in it that the “devil like” features like horns, tails, claws etc appear. Unlike the aasimar (who are the same but mixed with divine blood) who are accepted and seen as beautiful, the tieflings are discriminated against by most if not all populations in Toril. They are outcasts, often having to settle in marginalized/unfit areas and form their own communities due to the unwillingness of others to interact with them. There is something to be said about how the comments of “devil” towards a tiefling and some religions’ interpretation of indigenous peoples (or even black people) as being cursed or in cohorts with the devil. Aka, this shit is problematic.

You can have an insight on how bad this was in Baldur’s Gate city by a story Karlach tells. She says her mother died of an illness that would have been easily cured if treated early. But mom cliffgate was refused medical care because no physician in the city wanted to visit and help a tiefling family in the outer city. By the time one accepted to go and help, it was too late. The disease had advanced and could not be cured, and so Karlach’s mom died prematurely. I guess that illustrates very obviously the degree to which tieflings are marginalized and discriminated against in Toril. If that is not an analogy to the struggle of peoples of color in a generalized manner, I don’t know what is.

[studentofetherium]

so like, we all know wrestling is fake, right? any adult who is aware of wrestling will know it's fake, especially fans

but in wrestling, this is known as a "work". a work is just, something that's fake. every part of a wrestling show is a work, because that's the point. but works are contrasted against shoots, which are genuine moments of unplanned fighting or talking. if someone slaps their opponent a little too hard because of an argument over catering backstage, that's a shoot. despite how carefully planned wrestling is, shoot moments do happen. maybe someone says fuck when it wasn't in the script, or maybe someone breaks character laughing after their opponent tells a joke. again, this is normal

but ever since kayfabe died, wrestling companies have been trying to find new ways to create uncertainty. this is how we got "worked shoots", that being preplanned events meant to see unplanned. maybe a guy says fuck when that "wasn't in the script". maybe someone starts calling out the writers. maybe they pre-plan controversies. worked shoots have been a thing since the late 90s and have fallen off in recent years because simply put, people are tired of them. it's something you can only really do in moderation, and between all the major companies, there was no moderation whatsoever

so worked shoots are still a thing but they're less common. even so, they have a long shadow in the industry. namely, some people will assume any shoot moment has to be a work, even when it's clearly not. one of the most common examples of shoots in wrestling is legit injuries, but because worked injuries are so common, you can't have a real injury without someone claiming it's a worked shoot

you also get the really funny situation of something happening in the show (for example, someone is disgusted by a heel's actions), it very clearly being a work, and yet people label it as a shoot because they want it to be true. and then labeling it as a worked shoot when they're proven wrong

[mist-the-wannabe-linguist]

Man, the more I think about future alternate history of Temeraire the more it looks like the 20th century would see a massive decline if not outright near-extinction of heavyweights dragons, at least those in Europe and maybe Russia

It's 1914, dragons in Europe have had rights for a while now, still not 1:1 to humans (not sure where women's rights would be at in Temeraire universe so maybe dragons are on par with human women) but we're getting there. They aren't seen as beasts or intelligent warships anymore. But then World War I begins and the propaganda machine is everpresent and merciless. It is every man's duty to defend his country or else he is a coward and a weakling and deserving of shame, and for dragons, whose size and strength is incomparable to humans, this applies tenfold. Not to mention the fact that dragons require lots of food from the already dwindling wartime resources. The pressure on dragons to "pull their weight" would be massive. And so most of them join the war effort, working as messengers, reconnaissance, moving cargo, or serving as soldiers in their own right, old but still capable dragons once again taking on harnesses and crews like they have 100 years ago and teaching the younger ones the tactics they still vividly remember. But this is not the 1800s anymore, technology has progressed and just like the traditional cavalry, dragons and their crews fall prey to modern artillery and machine guns. Smaller, lighter breeds manage to keep ahead of the relatively primitive technology, but the large and slow heavyweights become little more than gigantic moving targets. In this world, the term The Lost Generation rings even more true.

Meanwhile in Russia the period of chaos after the dissolution of Russian breeding grounds during the Napoleonic wars has long since passed, with sky-high costs in both human and dragon lives. By the 1830s, some of the few remaining dragons were lured back to human society with promises of steady food and treasures, and it did not take long for things to return to what they used to be. Dragons were indeed treated better now, but still far from equal, their situation more reminiscent to pre-Temeraire Britain, and there was still a strongly baked-in hierarchy of preferential treatment based on dragon size. Come 1917. The war drags on, living conditions plummet and unrest rapidly rises in the Russian Empire. Still not seeing any of the societal changes that dragons of Western Europe enjoyed, Russian dragons find much common ground with peasants, especially the small lightweight dragons, and calls for a change became louder. Humans and dragons alike united by the vision of peace, freedom, prosperity and equality for all, the Socialist Revolution sweeps through the country with the speed of a grey courier's flight. A republic is established, the tsar and his family are executed, same as thousands of other members of nobility, the wealthy, and others seen as enemies of the state. This includes many dragons who did not side with the revolution, particularly those who refused to part with their hoards. Many heavyweights saw themselves as targets, viewed as symbols of the imperial power by the people and as tyrants in their own right by smaller dragons. Then the middleweights, and even lightweights do not avoid suspicion. Talks of the inherent greed and savagery of dragons find more and more voices, people remind themselves of the brutality unleashed by freed dragons a hundred years ago. With the increasing industrialization and technological development, there are opinions that dragons have no place in a modern world, claims that "why need dragons when we can achieve just as much with machines and pure human ingenuity". Many dragons find themselves out of work and out of food, and retreat to the wilderness. Those who remain are mostly the small ones, just large enough to live similar to humans, eat as much as humans and work according to human standards.

[morlock-holmes]

The people you’re arguing with re: pre-modern quality of life, are all broadly rationalist-adjacent, and are therefore deeply committed to arch-Whig-History and will never concede that anything was better for anyone ever before this exact moment in time.

for what it’s worth, I get your point - comparative social status is really great, and people who had a lot of it might’ve been very unwilling to give it up in order to certain material benefits of industrial society.

For a total no-brainer post-industrial example - anyone who’d trade being a trust fund playboy in the early 20th century for being a lower income wage worker today is a fool. There is no way you could legitimately argue that the internet is better than a life of relative leisure, high status, and wealth.

the further back you go, the trickier the argument gets, due to things like antibiotics, motorized transport, etc all being pretty handy, but I absolutely would go to bat that the median Regency English gentry or noble had a better quality of life than the median lower income American, in many respects.

go back to the Iron Age, gets a little trickier, but idk, I might still say that a high status Viking leader had a better life than I do, but it’s a smaller chunk of society the further back you go. Wealthy Romans seemed to be having a pretty decent time, tbh

I do think I’m more sensitive to relative status than some people. That said, I also think a lot of the Whig History fans I’ve known were part of the current socioeconomic top 10% and just didn’t realize how much it sucks to not have that status. Especially looking at a guy like John Green going in on it, like yeah John, of course you don’t rate being nationally known and respected for making a living pursuing your life’s passion, you’re doing that now

Well, I have another side to things, though you get most of it.

I mean, I don't want to overestimate wealth here. Part of my point is *also* that, assuming what we read of Diogenes is true, he was probably more fulfilled as a human being than Elon Musk, and Elon Musk is the world's richest man in the safest and most technologically advanced time in human history while Diogenes lived in a god damn jug.

Like, people who idealize or become nostalgic about the past are very, very often asking,

"Why do I feel so [angry/tired/hopeless/trapped] despite the fact that I have easy access to [insert material comfort here]"

And the response is very often to say, "Because you are fundamentally irrational. [Insert material comfort here] is actually the most important advancement in all of human history."

Like, in that conversation one person says,

"You live better than anybody in pre-industrial times."

And when I say, "Well, I don't know, Leonard Da Vinci and Gengis Khan seemed like they did okay"

A second person comes along to say,

"Well, those are inherently scarce positional goods, you can't expect social advances to make those more prevalent, what modernity actually gives us is travel, a library, a well-stocked sewing room, a hundred paintings you painted yourself"

And when I say, "Yeah I don't have that stuff either" a third person says,

"Yeah, obviously you can't expect to get that stuff, modernity gives you flush toilets, iPads and childhood vaccines."

And first of all yeah, I know, I said that, and second:

*Boy* have these rose-y eyed optimists spent a *lot* of time telling me what sorts of human pleasures I really ought to stop expecting to have more of.

I mean "wasn't stillborn" is quite literally the *absolute bare minimum* that a person can expect out of life.

Remember how in the 50s some kid would hate peas, and his parents would force him to eat them and if he complained they'd say, "You ought to be grateful for those peas, there are starving children in Africa"?

Turns out that "You'd better learn to be thankful for this because it's all you're gonna get and you could have it a lot worse" isn't actually optimistic or empowering.

And that sentiment lurks just below the surface of a lot of these odes to modernity.

PS - If you asked that pea hating child whether he would want to trade places with that starving African child he might well say, "Well, at least *he* isn't being forced to eat these awful peas!" and I think there is some justice to that response even if it doesn't represent a literal desire to experience a famine.