Hey. Why isn’t the moon landing a national holiday in the US. Isn’t that fucked up? Does anyone else think that’s absurd?

It was a huge milestone of scientific and technological advancement. (Plus, at the time, politically significant). Humanity went to space! We set foot on a celestial body that was not earth for the first time in human history! That’s a big deal! I’ve never thought about it before but now that I have, it’s ridiculous to me that that’s not part of our everyday lives and the public consciousness anymore. Why don’t we have a public holiday and a family barbecue about it. Why have I never seen the original broadcast of the moon landing? It should be all over the news every year!

It’s July 20th. That’s the day of the moon landing. Next year is going to be the 54th anniversary. I’m ordering astronaut shaped cookie cutters on Etsy and I’m going to have a goddamn potluck. You’re all invited.

Dorian: How’d it feel to change?

Cole: First…I was afraid.

Dorian: nods understandingly

Cole: I was petrified…

Dorian: Wait

Varric, in the distance: giggling

— This man has done bad things; they’ve nested in his bones, they make him move like his love for you does.

HEY Y'ALL WANNA READ DISCWORLD?

don't have the books? don't know where to get them? can't afford it?

here, all of you sweethearts. i got this from a friend a long, long time ago, and now I pass it to you.

Every discworld novel, numbered in release order, from Colour of Magic to Snuff, in MOBI, MBP and APNX e-reader formats. Have fun, and maybe later tell me what your favourite book was, eh?

Luis and Leon take five.

(Ya'll liked the first one so I made it a little comic |D)

Please please PLEASE watch this Christmas spot we got in Spain

[video description:

View of a town skyline at dusk in the winter, with the J&B Blended Scotch Whiskey logo superimposed on the picture. A flock of sheep walks from left to right, making baaa sounds, their bells jangling. Some Christmas lights with a star are strung along some telephone poles on the left side of the frame.

Cut to the inside of a house where an older man with white hair is sitting in an armchair reading a paper. His wife comes in and puts her handbag on the side table. She’s on the phone, and quickly moves into another room. A lipstick rolls out of the bag. The older man surreptitiously picks up the lipstick, then sneaks into the bathroom, locks the door, and attempts to apply the lipstick. He is not pleased with the results. He wipes off the lipstick and hides it in a small makeup bag on top of the bathroom mirror cabinet.

Elvis Costello’s song “She” begins to play when the wife walks in, and it plays throughout the video. The first line of the song is “She may be the face I can’t forget,” and as the video goes on we learn why this song is significant to the story being told by the ad.

The older man goes to a small store and buys more makeup. The female shopkeeper gives him an unfriendly glare when he pays for his purchase.

The old man looks at a magazine in his home. He tears out a page about makeup and goes back into the bathroom to experiment with the eyeshadow he bought earlier. He tries the lipstick again and adds some rouge. The result is better, but he’s not quite satisfied.

The man goes to a bus stop. Inside the bus shelter, he minutely examines the eye makeup on the model in an ad on the shelter wall. He jumps away from the ad when another man enters the shelter and sits down. The other man doesn’t seem to have noticed what the older man was doing.

Back in the bathroom, the man experiments with mascara. He likes the result. He puts the lipstick on again, and likes this too. Someone knocks on the door, so he hurriedly wipes off the makeup and hides the makeup bag again.

Scene cuts to the living room, where the man sits in his chair reading the newspaper. He looks over at some family photos. One of them shows the man with his arm around a teenager with short, dark hair.

Scene then cuts to the man’s bedroom. It’s nighttime, and he’s in bed with his sleeping wife. The man sneaks out of bed and back into the bathroom. He puts on all the kinds of makeup he bought: lipstick, rouge, mascara, eyeshadow. He looks at himself in the mirror, all made up, and smiles. Now he’s got it right.

The next day, the man is in his living room, where he hears a car honk outside. He goes and looks out the window. Outside is a group of people greeting each other in the driveway; they are an extended family, and apparently have just arrived at the older man’s house. One of the family members is a young man with short, dark hair. Text superimposed on the screen reads “Alvaro, 26 años,” indicating the name and age of the young man. The scene cuts back inside, where the older man comes away from the window, looking thoughtful.

The family sets the table for Christmas dinner, putting out plates and silverware and lighting candles. The older man goes to Alvaro and gestures with his head. “Come with me.” They go into the bathroom. The older man locks the door, then proceeds to put the makeup on Alvaro with much love and tenderness. The older man is happy with the way Alvaro looks. Alvaro is pleased, too.

Cut back to the dining room, where the rest of the family is laughing and talking together. Conversation suddenly stops and people look up, surprised. The grandfather ushers his grandchild out of the bathroom. She stands nervously in front of her family, her face beautifully done. The family pause, then start to smile. The camera goes close on a man with greying hair and beard. He seems overcome with happy emotion, and seems to be the grandchild’s father.

The camera goes back close on the grandchild, who looks shyly at her family. The name and age superimposed now read “Ana, 26 años.”

A woman with greying short hair stands up and goes to Ana. This apparently is Ana’s mom. She gives Ana a big hug. The mom is crying with happiness and love, and smiles at the grandfather through her tears. The grandfather blinks and seems shy but pleased.

The camera pulls back to show everyone at the table again. The grandfather is standing and leading a toast. Superimposed text reads “La magia no solo está en la Navidad. También está en nosotros.” (The magic isn’t only in Christmas. It’s also in us.)

A series of short close shots. Ana happily raises her glass with everyone else. The grandfather takes his wife’s hand and kisses it. Ana’s dad takes a sip of his whiskey, then Ana’s grandmother goes over and gives Ana a big hug.

There’s a brief shot of a bottle of J&B whiskey, which is on the table with the other dinner things, then the scene cuts to show the grandfather looking at Ana and raising his glass to her, smiling. Ana raises her glass to her grandfather and smiles at him.

Final shot is the J&B logo on a black background with the text “de celebrarnos” (to celebrate us).

/end description]

I cannot actually believe we now live in a world where a whisky company thinks it’s commercially viable to make this ad, and to make it about a grandfather who makes Christmas dinner with a family of very “ordinary looking people into a happy, loving affair, by doing this. 

I do not know how to explain how fucking impossible that would have seemed to me twenty years ago when I just realized that possibly, maybe, I wasn’t straight. I cannot explain to you how amazing this is, and how beautiful it is. 

This did not just happen, and yes there are people everywhere fighting to take it away but I cannot explain you the change in the overall culture of everything, everywhere that makes this possible. 

@indelibleevidence you're absolutely right

We're supporting the writers strike

"Long day, Sancho?" "Man, you have no idea."

I love them a lot, your honor 🥹

there's something deeply gutting about being a writer right now. watching studio execs brag about starving people like you out of your very house just to not pay you anything above the pennies you currently make. watching some people cheer over AO3 being targeted for a DDOS attack. the complete lack of profitability of writing commissions or writing in general in transformative spaces, especially in contrast to fanart. the pivot of so many social media platforms to be video and image based near-exclusively.

I don't know. it just makes me sad to know that the hobby that kept me alive while growing up homeschooled with dial-up internet and local antenna TV... is only ever gonna be a side job with minimal engagement. I know this site is good about supporting libraries and the concept of books but, do me a favor? Reach out to a writer friend you know. Leave a comment on your last five read stories on your favorite website.

Tell us you care.

and like. this isn't a guilt trip on an individual level, I don't want anyone to read this and feel like they're not doing their part. it's not you. it's just the slow crush of watching capitalism crush one of the oldest art forms we've got as a species, deliberately and gleefully, when no one else really cared about it in the first place.

writing is by nature a slow, solitary work. I can't livestream my writing process, I can't make a time lapse video of me writing my novel. our faces aren't on the covers of our books hardly any amount of time. I see one read-more to a fanfic or AO3 link for every hundred pieces of fanart and twice as many memes. and parasocial relationships are so, so, so incredibly important in our society (not inherently evil, either) and it just.

Hurts. To already be small, and get stepped on anyway.

It all fits: The asari as conservative capitalists

[Thanks to @swaps55, @comeoniwantacoolname, @shadoedseptmbr, and everyone else who contributed to this wild red-string-connecting ride. Don't know all the tumblr names]

The asari: galactic influencers known for elegance and diplomacy. The only full natural biotics, powerful, graceful, and attractive to everyone they meet. The species at the pinnacle of advanced biotic technology.

And holders of immense wealth, acquired over 1,000-year life spans spent playing capitalist chess with galactic society.

Yes, the asari are the most technologically advanced race in the galaxy, but they're not innovators. They're ahead because protheans masquerading as gods gave them hot civilization tips that equated to a millennia-long head-start. They're ahead of the rest, but they move slowly. Within a few centuries — well within the life-time of most asari living today — they'll lose that technological advantage. From asari board rooms to Thessian political think-tanks, this is seen as a looming disaster.

Thankfully for the asari, long life-spans also mean the opportunity to amass huge amounts of wealth. You don't need to be an innovator if you can hire the best minds in the galaxy and lock them under a brutal non-compete contract. Buy out the competition entirely if you can; if that won't work, steal their secrets. You know how the council prohibited genetic modification and AI research because of 'ethics' and 'galactic safety'? Those laws also just happened to effectively quash scientific study in two areas where the asari were already starting to lag behind.

Ever wonder why the volus,creators of the whole financial system, don't have a seat on the council!? Who would want to keep the people who understand financial systems away from power, if not the people who are successfully gaming that system?

The asari reputation as master negotiators is chalked up to experience, skill, and empathy, but the unspoken threat is their ability to stop any negotiation dead in it's tracks. They are the masters of stalling, stonewalling, and passive blockades. Other species might filibuster. An asari can walk away from the table and wait for you to die.

It may look like galactic civilization is a multi-species effort gracefully guided by wise elder asari. It's actually a bunch of shorter-lived species being held over a barrel by sexy blue Mitch McConnell.

Sure, their kids go out and dance at bars or get involved in mercenary groups. That's fine: other species tend to underestimate you when all they see is your trust-fund kids tearing it up on their decades-long spring break. And it's not that risky. Mamma can always buy junior's way into the best armor (or out of jail).

A vastly-longer life lends itself to even more unethical behavior, though. Y'know that super popular dating site? Did you know if you dig through the front companies it's asari-owned? Did you realize when you submitted your genetic profile to 'help find your perfect match using proprietary technology' you also signed away rights to your own genome? No, of course you didn't — the fine-print is forty-six pages long! Forty-six pages is nothing to an attorney with a thousand-year life span! And they REFUSE to share their matching algorithm. Why?! Because they're BREEDING US. They can choose the traits they want using your own genetic code, and only match you with mates likely to pass them on! It's not a service, it's eugenics via tindr. It doesn't matter if doing that via dating app is wildly inefficient; when you have 1,000 years inefficiency doesn't matter!

WAKE UP!!!!

This is a nice video showing an blind/invisible stitch, which is quite useful for repairing tears or finishing something (ex. cushion).

Also, that extra step for putting back the seam is really nice.

I'm not joking.

What

Mildly surprising how many people don't know about this.

literally how would someone know this.

I learned it from a dream.

Talking meaning chatting online, interacting irl, or even exchanging one or two messages. I just want to see how much tumblr users actually talk to each other!

Some of you might remember a couple of years ago when Scarlett Johansson sued Disney because she was making significantly less money for Black Widow than was guaranteed in her contract because so many more people watched it on streaming than in theaters, how there was a massive misinformation campaign from Disney that a ton of people on this website (and Twitter and other social media) bought into: that she was a greedy bitch who didn't respect people who needed to stay at home during the pandemic (I believe the word "ableist" was thrown around with aplomb) as opposed to someone who just wanted to be paid what she was owed, what Disney had initially guaranteed her when they signed the contract, and whose issue obviously wasn't with streaming itself but with how little streaming was allowed to get away with paying her and other actors.

Anyway we're going to see a lot of that from studios now, especially now that actors have joined the strike and it's easier to sell them as rich and greedy than writers, because of this cultural stereotype we have of all Hollywood actors as celebrities. Don't fall for it. SAG-AFTRA represents people like Tom Cruise and ScarJo but it also represents the kind of people who played a Borg in two episodes of Star Trek: Voyager in 1997 or who had one line in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as an enthusiastic audience member. Most actors are not crazy wealthy, and in fact, if you're a big TV fan (especially older TV and genre TV) that likely includes some actor names that you know, who played supporting roles in your fav shows, or who were even a star in something decades ago but haven't done anything major since. The AFTRA side also represents people like radio broadcasters. But even beside that, all workers deserve to be fairly compensated for the work they do, and the threat of replacing them with AI, or real actors being required to sign contracts to allow their likenesses to be used by AI forever without paying them, is an existential threat to acting as a profession in general. The actors are in the right. The writers are in the right. The studios are in the wrong. The studios have exploited new technology to get away with horrifying labor practices for years and their feet need to be put to the fire. Circulate the articles about how poorly the Orange is the New Black cast was compensated for making one of the defining shows of the early streaming boom, and of the studios saying they want to force writers to starve and lose their homes. Don't get distracted by propaganda aping progressive-sounding language about wealthy celebrities. Focus on the real enemy, the real greedy, rich assholes who care more about money than people and art: the studios.

POV: Ethel brings you a leaf

do you know how thrilled i was to realise this has audio and the audio is gorgeous???

There are many benefits to being Barbie's cousin

WHAT THE FUCK IS THE CONTEXT HERE

So for those who don't know some merch sources establish Barbie's full name is Barbara Rogers. And Shaggy's full name is Norville Rogers. So some people started to joke some years ago they could be related and we wouldn't know, and little by little the joke turned into an AU or a headcanon for some people

I was today years old when I learned that Barbie has a full name

I think a lot about Shepard's fish tank wipeout in the Citadel DLC.

The entire DLC is this lighthearted love letter to Mass Effect, and it's beautiful. But then there's THIS moment. When Shepard falls through a fish tank.

The entire way down, they desperately try to arrest their fall. They have no shields. No combat armor. There is no one to catch them. It feels like this is one of the few times there is ever fear. And they don't land gently. And the cut scene lingers on it. There is no levity in this moment. Shepard is on the ground, groaning in pain, slow to get up, clutching their ribs. First instinct before they try to get to their feet? Reach for the gun. Have that first. Then see if you can stand.

And I think the only reason we can have this moment, where Shepard is vulnerable, injured, and in trouble, is because there is no one there to see. The moment Brooks gets on the comm, they crack a joke. "Yup. Feeling good." While unable to stand up straight.

We get this at the end of the game, too, but that's when the stakes are at their highest. That's when it's supposed to be hard. It's no less magnificent then, but now, in this moment? When everything was happy and fun and silly? MAN.

And afterward, everyone jokes about it. Every single member of your squad makes a crack about the sushi place. And Shepard plays along. Haha, yeah, fell right through it, while trying to change the subject.

No one knows what that fall was like. No one saw Shepard lying on the ground in the bowls of the Silversun Strip, water dripping off them, struggling to get to their feet.

And no one asks, because it's Shepard.