"I'm a Rover, can you love me anyway?"

Like say what u want but also remember it was 2010. The "ur gay" was a joke that would ostricized you in that time period.

If there's even a whiff of genuine same sex pairing in the show, that shit is cancelled. Reminder that Steven Universe's gay wedding episode came out in like 2018 and the show got cancelled bc of that. 2018.

Went to go see the movie bout some pretty amazing digging

this was my favourite part

DISNEY PRINCESSES & ONCE UPON A TIME LIVE ACTION

Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White Jessy Schram & Dania Ramirez as Ella (Cinderalla) Sarah Bolger as Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) JoAnna Garcia Swisher as Ariel Emilie de Ravin as Belle Karen David as Jasmine Jamie Chung as Mulan Mekia Cox as Tiana Alexandra Metz & Meegan Warner as Rapunzel Amy Manson as Merida Georgina Haig as Elsa Elizabeth Lail as Anna

And then generative ai was created.

And now I get it. I get why nobody on Star Trek spends all their free time in the holodeck. I get why all the crew are putting on stage plays, and holding music recitals, and building models, and playing poker. I get why everyone was so skeptical and mean to the Doctor on Voyager. I get why the ONE TIME we see someone obsessed with the holodeck it infringes on people’s likeness rights and permissions.

Because fundamentally at the end of the day we are human beings and we ENJOY working with our hands and making REAL human connections. A person who learns to play an instrument is always going to be viewed as an artist over someone who asks the computer to generate music for them.

Even as recent as Lower Decks they were making fun of the fact that the crew were putting on amateurish plays and holding music recitals. But after living with Ai for so long and seeing how detrimental it’s been to the world… I’d much rather watch my friends put on a stage play than “participate” in a holodeck movie.

What’s most amazing about this is that it was completely unintentional. I do not for one second think that the writers of the time in the 90’s were really thinking about the larger issues that generative ai and chatGTP would cause. How could they? Text to speech back then was still robotic as heck. More likely they wrote that stuff in because it was cheaper to film on sets the owned than try to build, film, or rent out different locations each week.

That’s the down to earth logistical real reason Data is reciting poems about his cat or Riker is in a play put on in ten forward. It’s just cheaper to do that than to build a whole new set or move production to a new location.

Yet at the end of the day, I think that unintentionally speaks to a very human need that ai is making more and more prevalent to us day in and day out.

This headline is missing some important nuance -- it's a headline, there's only so much they can do -- in that the Vatican said "this action you have taken excommunicates you." That is, 'we're not actively doing this to you, you are doing this to yourself, because we told you this was beyond the acceptable boundaries.'

The Vatican went way beyond what most of my Catholic friends expected -- they expected the bishops and maybe some priests to get excommunicated, but the laity and the nuns and... the Vatican has basically said 'bet, try it. See what happens.' (Excommunication, that's what happens.)

If you are on BlueSky and you are not following Claire Willett, you are truly missing out on some good fucking tea. Claire is a lesbian lifelong Catholic from Portland who knows her shit & has been sitting watching all of this with a giant bucket of popcorn and translating for the rest of us:

B.Yellowtail --- jewlery, clothing, and home goods designed by Bethany Yellowtail, citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Nation and from the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation

Cheekbone Beauty --- sustainable, low-waste beauty products from Jenn Harper, an Anishinaabe artist based in Canada

Trickster --- atheletic products from Tlingit and Deg Hit’an Athabascan siblings (Alaska)

NativeHumboldt on Etsy --- the artist, Shayna McCullough, and their fiancé make designs inspired by traditional designs from their culture; she is from the Yurok tribe and descended from the Hupa, Karuk, Redwood Creek, Pit River, Yuki, Wintun, Pomo (tribes in California), and Chetco tribe (in Oregon)

OklahomaThirtyNine on Etsy --- they mostly sell beaded work, particularly earrings, as well as some necklaces

xBeadsByMandyx on Etsy --- handmade beaded earrings, from a Cherokee veteran

food products, from wine to sauces to teas to mixes to fish to jerky and nuts, sorted by store with details beside each store

Plus they're warm as hell and the sheepskin lining means I don't have to wear socks, which is extremely nice sensory comfort. So that's nice as well.

image is one of my favourite blankets from Eighth Generation

Beam Paints --- watercolour paints by Anong Migwans Bean, M'Chigeeng First Nation (located in Ontario), who was taught to harvest pigments by their parents ((recommended by @airbenderinalbion))

Beyond Buckskin --- created by Jessica Metcalfe, who is Turtle Mountian Chippewa, they feature and sell works such as moccasins, jewelry, clothing, and blankets from over 40 artists --- featured is a beaded Yakima Plateau bag ((recommended by @sassytail))

Haipažaža Pĥežuta --- a couple, Lakota and Dakota, from Ocheti Sakowin Tha Makhoche (Sioux Nation) who make soaps, shampoo bars, bath and body products, salves, & more herbal products, incorporating traditional knowledge and using minimal packaging + natural ingredients ((recommended by @wittywallflower))

Sequoia Soaps --- soaps, candles, lotions, body mists and body scrubs, founded by Michaelee Lazore, who is Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) from Akwesáhsne and Northern Paiute (in Nevada) ((recommended by @trialofasphodel))

Only Child Handicrafts --- beadwork created by a 30-year-old beadworker, which they learned while growing up near the Great Lakes from the Anishinaabe; their paternal family is Ojibwe from Fort William First Nation & their patterns are both based on traditional patterns & contemporary ((recommended by @fruityshirts))

Sage & Oats Trading Post --- based in Montana, but selling products from native artists across the country, including beadwork, candles, foodstuffs, books, textiles, jewelry, & so much more ((recommended by @samwisegamgeeee))

Sea Wisdom Design --- jewelry by łlilawikw ("gatherer of the people"), who is Kwakwaka’wakw, from the Pacific Northwest, whose beautiful historical designs are featured in her art ((recommended by @fruityshirts))

Thunderbird Skin --- skincare made Mooretown Rancheria Maidu women from Northern California, who now live in the UK. they also make products specifically for eczema & psoriasis & have trial sizes of nearly all their products ((recommended by @a-wild-haggis))

Mistahiminis Beadwork --- beautiful art, beaded earrings & embroidery works & sewn bags, made by a nonbinary Nehiyawak (Cree) beadworker in Canada ((recommended by @thymeforeverything))

Choke Cherry Creek --- clothing created by Angela Ikūalasaash ("persistence"), a Apsáalooke (Crow) & Pikuni (Blackfeet) woman who incorporates symbols from her heritage into her work ((recommended by @alcidesire))

Good Medicine Clothing --- an Apsáalooke-owned (Crow Nation) clothing store, founded by a Native American dancer & hip hop artist (his music links here) ((recommended by @alcidesire))

The Wandering Bull --- they carry a huge variety of pow-wow supplies & whatever anyone might need to make their own pieces ((recommended by @lugarn))

Medicine Man Crafts --- goods made by people on/near the Eastern band Tsalagi Nation (Cherokee), such as traditional baskets & jewelry, craft supplies, masks & pottery, & so much more ((recommended by @lugarn))