#this definitely qualifies as

[liesonthefloordramatically]

Of interest to a whole bunch of flavors of nerds following me, but there's a really good interview on the New Books Network with the author of a new book on translations of Tolkien into Chinese, which addresses a bunch of fascinating questions like "what do you call an 'elf' in Chinese (and how do you distinguish Tolkien elves from Tinkerbell or a Smurf)?" and "why is 'doom' so hard to translate?" and "is Lord of the Rings wuxia?"

[mauv-the-bluest-cat-ever]

"tek" in "tangotek" does a lot of heavy lifting to make it sound more kiki but "leman" in "skizzleman" makes it sound more bouba

[justabiteofspite]

I honestly don't get the spawn vs ascended debate when we really should all be coming together to shame those who think it's "unrealistic" that Astarion could fall in love with default dragonborn Durge on account of that Durge "not being attractive."

Like, I'm sorry, but are you fucking high? In what world is Default Durge not peak sex appeal? Big, tall, muscley thicc ass man who can barely run because he's so caked up with a deep, haunted voice struggling to overcome the darkness within himself all while looking like he could bite Cazador's head off in one satisfying crunch? You're telling me Astarion wouldn't be speed running that romance arc to climb him like a tree? Like that wet pathetic cat man looking for protection and attention wouldn't be the president, vice president, and treasurer of the "Top That Nice But Kind of Disturbed Hot Lizard" club?

Get fucking real.

[celestialhijabi]

Rereading GtN is such a treat bc you find foreshadowing gems like this.

Gideon: if I met someone who feels the same way about Harrow as I do, I'd wanna marry them. Unless they're kinda weird, in which case we'd just swap friendship bracelets.

[girl-named-matty]

MC: Is that... necessary? Sebastian: *trying to run away but he can't because he's on a kid-leash* Ominis: Yes.

[redysetdare]

Oh so when repulsed ppl or non-partnering ppl bring up their experiences it's suddenly "not all aros/aces! Don't generalize the community!" But a choir of assholes crying out "Aros and aces can still date!" In response to ppl pointing out the erasure of those who don't is not generalizing and totally fine? Yeah, uh huh ok.

[f0x-meets-w0lf]

i might post the full drawing of this on here, i think it may be tumblr-safe — but as someone who's already flirting with danger, for now, feel free to hop on over to see it on ao3. promise it's worthwhile <3

[omaano]

"Trouble on Zeffo! After his daring rescue by the crew of the Mantis, Jedi padawan Cal Kestis has embarked on a journey to possibly restore the Jedi Order! Following the steps of Jedi master Eno Cordova, hope has never been easier to grasp. But standing in the way is a massive storm…"

My art piece to go with Steampunk Star Wars written by @hotcocoandmarshmallows my amazing partner for the @swprequels-big-bang. Please give it a read, to see what Cal gets up to on this alternate version of the Mantis, and Zeffo!

[soars22]

Alright, my lovely people. I’d like to give a little rundown of what a labor union is and what protections it provides for workers because I think that it’s context that’s important to the current situation. Please bear in mind that I am by no means an expert. I am drawing on my research and my own experience being in a union at a previous job to write this post. Please feel free to reblog with anything I’ve missed.

What is a union?

A union is a group of workers who have banded together in order to use their collective strength and voices to make a difference in their workplace. Many unions were formed due to dissatisfaction with exploitative or unsafe working conditions (look up Appalachian coal miners if you want to see an example).

What do unions do?

Unions are there to act on behalf of their workers; their entire purpose is to ensure that their members (and, often by extension, non-members) receive fair wages, proper breaks, safe working conditions, and many other benefits. They are made by and for workers.

What do unions NOT do?

Unions do NOT exist to break up companies. Unions are there to ensure that workers are treated fairly. Union leaders will first do everything in their power to obtain better working conditions by negotiating with the company on the behalf of the employees. Shutting down a business because of poor labor conditions will never be a union’s priority; they will ALWAYS be on the side of the labor force. The union may take the company to court and the company might later collapse as a result of that (whether because of court fees, public backlash, or other reasons) but the goal is to preserve the workers’ jobs while also making sure that the workers are treated fairly.

What does this mean for qsmp?

I don’t know. Do I think there are major problems? Yes, absolutely. Do I think that Quackity is working to address these problems? Again, yes. Do I-or anyone else for that matter-know what those solutions are or what they may look like? No, we do not!! I cannot see into the future; neither can Twitter. We need to have patience and understanding as we all wait to see what comes next.

I’ve seen a lot of doomposting here. I’ve seen a lot of anxiety and stress. If that’s where your mind is at, you might need to take a break from the internet for a bit; god knows I might. This situation isn’t going to be fixed by attacking the cc’s or the admins or anyone else who’s involved. That’s not our job; we’re only adding more negativity and stress to people who may already be at their limit.

Be kind. Be patient. Be a community. That’s what this server is all about, ultimately. It’s time to prove that. Hope this helps.

[lilybug-02]

Bill nye the science guy?

More like

uhhh

Lilybug the insect enthusiast

mic drop

(idk its 4 am and i've had a long night. My braincells are currently diminshing as i type this lol)

Hey! I love all science! ^w^ I am a Geoscientist now after all!

Learning more about the world is what us scientists do best :)

[tswwwit]

"There is no man in the relationship" EHHH ❌ WRONG!!!! It's Dipper, Bill isn't technically a man 😌

[nachosncheezies]

In defense of late-canon x files (including the revivals)

I was thinking about this poll after I commented on it, and I kinda want to be brave and say more.

Short answer to the poll's question before I go any further: If you're a new fan and a sensitive sort who thinks you'll struggle with your blorbos Really Going Through It and you really need a happy ending, I suggest you stop at the end of season 8. Do not pass go, do not look at spoilers. Disregard this post entirely, close the internet, and go look at something that makes you happy. (Also fuck every part of society that characterizes sensitivity as inherently weak and bad and some kind of personal failing, you are valid.)

That said, "quality" as a concept is entirely subjective, and the question of whether or not there's a decline in quality for any story is wholly subjective, too. In the case of x files? I'm not convinced there is a decline. I am going to be upfront that I haven't yet watched past season 8, though I am almost completely spoiled on events after that - and the reason I haven't watched yet is not because of how I know events are going to unfold, but simply because I don't want it to end!!! Ohh, the tension between "I CAN'T WAIT!!!" and "Nooo don't be over D:"

When I first came to txf fandom on tumblr and gradually became spoiled about what happens in late canon though, I was often left uncomfortable and tbh kinda queasy about it. As I said in my comment on the poll, the hate for especially the revival and IWTB, or to a lesser extent even seasons 8 & 9, is very well documented. But! There are other takes to be found here on tumblr if you figure out where to look, and my feelings have changed!

The thing is, I have yet to find myself in any fandom where there isn't a vocal subset of fans who dislike the story after a certain point. I am not joking when I say that no one hates the things they love as passionately as sci-fi and fantasy fans. In my experience, it often hinges on the extent to which a viewer has strong notions on where they would like the characters to end up. In particular with series where shipping is a dominant component for the bulk of a fandom, I have almost universally found that there comes some turning point in the story where "let them be happy you cowards" is the dominant view, and things that compromise the attainment of a degree of romantic stability and/or domesticity are, to many fans, annoying at best and despicable at worst. But! As one tagset on the linked poll said:

and I think for any fandom, that last tag especially is so so so important. (I think that's harder for people watching a weekly series live, bc you have so much time to analyze and speculate and dream before the next breadcrumb drops, but I digress.)

So why am I saying this and how do I apply it to x files? Well, I eventually found that there are also a subset of fans who find redeeming things right up to the very end and actually quite like the whole thing! The things that I had seen people rage and ventpost so much about honestly never quite sounded to me as "out of character" or "untrue to the story" etc as those same ventposts made them sound. And I've discovered I'm not the only one who felt that way. Do I love that the spooky squad had to go through all of those things? No, those poor guys D: Life is hard and they have been through so much trauma. But do those events and their choices make sense to me in light of everything that came before? Yes! And I honestly can't wait to see them fight to overcome those things, breaking, healing, always learning, always growing, always getting better.

So if you're wondering "where does it go wrong"... well, I'm a completionist, as many people who've answered that post are, but also my personal opinion is that I don't think it does go wrong. If you're new and interested in exploring why I've gone from "vaguely queasy" to "excited" about the whole thing, or want to maybe balance out the impressions you're getting about the later seasons before deciding whether or not you want to see the whole thing, I'll put a few blog names in the comments.

Final admission: even once I started feeling a little more confident in the possibility that "actually ok maybe I'm not crazy, maybe this all kind of is in character and does make sense", there was one big plot point that I was NOT looking forward to and I thought I would never be comfortable about. In hindsight, I think my discomfort came from the negative responses being SO seemingly universal that I hadn't stopped to let myself truly consider other possible interpretations on that point. (I mean my initial instinct when I first read about it was, why are we mad about this?? CSM is literally the most unreliable narrator in history???? it's obviously fake news?????? this must be either a fever dream someone's having or it's a misdirection ploy against whatever shadowy forces might still be lurking?????????????? but for whatever reason I guess I had halfway written that off.) Happily, just last month there's a new post-s11 novel out, and although reviews for the book as a whole are mixed, it seems to have laid the groundwork for resolving that plot issue in a way I think most fans would be broadly happy with. If you're interested in being spoiled about that and seeing how, I recommend searching #perihelion on @agent-troi who liveblogged reading it with receipts, scroll back chronological-style to the first post on the subject and see how it unfolded. (And never forget that Dana Katherine Scully is the queen of denial as a coping mechanism lol)

Everyone's mileage will vary. Each person can feel however they want! But for anyone new, I wanted you to know that the very many ventposts you might be seeing are not all there is to this show or its fandom. Some of us love it despite - or even because of - all the things that went "wrong". I think we just don't talk about it as much.

[wisteriagoesvroom]

*gently pokes you with a stick til you write this*

Is there a plot, or just vibes... like what is going on in this universe... okay... *rolls sleeves up* lemme try to headcanon it a little:

Oscar is a rising star in product engineering, and was hired based on a prototype he was developing in his Imperial College dorm room. Barely settled into his new office gig, he is told to present a demo of said product on the mainstage of his tech company employer's next big conference, where they announce their latest product rollouts for the year.

Oscar really hates public speaking, and has never been very good at it. Enter Lando - deputy head of marketing and charmboy extraordinnaire - who is assigned to get him up to scratch.

Other universe details that probably only I care about: Adam Norris is the new CFO who brings his son into the picture. There are definitely two overworked interns on both their teams who have to manage all their weird quirks and Lando's idiosyncratic JIRA board hygiene. Surely there must be an ugly conference t-shirt. No wait– Oscar sleeps with Lando at the conference rehearsal, but the first time is kinda unexpected, and also Oscar spilled red wine on himself the previous night which necessitated him going up to Lando's hotel room for Plot Convenient Reasons (sex). Morning after, Oscar has to borrow one of Lando's t shirts and it ends up being a neon prototype that was manufactured as an error. And Oscar's like "you cannot expect me to walk out like this", and it's like. "Well either that or you walk around the city shirtless sorry mate." (Oscar takes the L, but he really hates green highlighters from that point on and nobody really knows why. Lando thinks it's hilarious and buys him copious amounts of hot chocolate to make up for it even though it was never his fault. He just likes buying hot chocolate for Oscar.)

There is also definitely an icebreaking joint activity that they both do, like indoor rock climbing, in order to get to know each other. Except Lando is like, spectacularly good at it, and Oscar (a) lies about his competency in rock climbing (b) is deathly afraid of heights. But Oscar refuses to be a wimp so doesn't say a single thing until he reaches the top of a really challenging wall and Lando is like: woah you did so amazing! Now let go and come down! and Oscar is like: I can't! Lando: wdym?? Oscar: I hate heights. Like "my sisters used to lure me to the roof with a ladder and then take the ladder away", hate heights. Lando: BRO.....your PRIDE.... (but he's also secretly going insane because Oscar clearly just wanted an excuse to spend the morning with him.)

Their first kiss is after Lando belays Oscar safely to the ground, obviously. Adrenalin, and stuff.

[aardvaark]

i think hardison would be in lost media recovery communities online but he’d also be trying his hardest to make all recordings of a certain country singer named "kenneth crane" become lost media, and feel really kinda bad about it

[2pen2wildfire]

"Transmascs can be lesbians but not trans men!" Ah yes because there's definitely a measurable, quantifiable difference between a trans man and a transmasc. It's not like people have their own life experiences and use the labels they feel comfortable with or anything. Not like someone might have a complicated relationship with womanhood and the sapphic experience while still fully identifying as a man. Definitely never a thing that happens. Jesus christ be so fucking fr.

[ask-the-colony-tree-siblings]

to arti and hunter

what would happen if i were to hypothetically force you two to hug

They are both in severe psychological distress right now /j