(Banner – click on it, it’s huge! – by @lefayart​, @ueberdemnebelmeer​, and @arthur-of-the-pendragons​)

Hello, and welcome to the Merlin/Arthur Kiss Fest 2019!

START DATE: December 24, 2019 ; 00:00 GMT

END DATE: January 20, 2020 ; 23:59 GMT

1. This fest is aimed at the BBC Merlin fandom; more specifically its Merthur subset.

2. This fest is all about Merthur kisses. Romantic, platonic, sexual, innocent, dirty, affectionate, on the nose, on the mouth, on the neck, the back, the ars– ahem. You name it, you can create it for the fest.

This year’s fest is split into four seasons. (Did you get that hint from the banner?)

I. Spring kisses (Dec 24, 2019 - Dec 30, 2019, inclusive)

II. Summer kisses (Dec 31, 2019 - Jan 6, 2020, inclusive)

III. Autumn kisses (Jan 7, 2020 - Jan 13, 2020, inclusive)

IV. Winter kisses (Jan 14, 2020 - Jan 20, 2020, inclusive)

But mod! you ask, curious. Whatever do you mean by the idea of seasonal kisses?

It means whatever the heck you want it to mean :)

3. All creation media are accepted. Fic, art/manips, podfic, video edits, gifsets, filk, anything.

For podfics, please obtain the fic author’s prior permission to have your podfic added to this fest, and indicate that you received it when you post your work.

4. All ratings are welcome. All kinks are welcome (no kinkshaming of any kind will be tolerated). Any setting (canon, AU, canon AU, let your imagination run free) is welcome.

5. You may post your work to any website of your choice, but you have to let the mod know where you’ve posted it (via DM or Tumblr tag, though the latter is unreliable), so that they may include your work in the masterlist. Anonymous posting is allowed, and an AO3 subcollection for that purpose has been set up and linked to below.

If you have any questions, this blog has asks and DMs open. :)

This fest is a celebration of Merthur and kisses. Absolutely cannot wait for it to begin <3

The AO3 collection for the fest is: ao3.org/collections/merthur_kiss_fest_2019

The anonymous AO3 collection for the fest is: ao3.org/collections/merthur_kiss_fest_2019_anonymous

It is recommended that all creators add their work to either of these collections, but no pressure if you don’t want to.

THREE CHEERS FOR MERTHUR KISSES~

If you haven’t heard there is a literal massacre going on in Sudan.

People are getting kidnapped, arrested, raped and killed. This has been going on for a few days now but naturally there’s hardly any media coverage.

THE WORLD CARES MORE ABOUT AN EMPTY CHURCH IN FRANCE THAN HUNDREDS OF INNOCENT BLACK MUSLIMS DYING IN SUDAN.

There are a few ways to help:

 - Emergency Medical Aid Donation

- Facebook campaign raising funds for food and other necessities

- International Rescue Committee

- Save The Children

Even if you can’t donate please help spread the news!!

okay so I love our resident bog man as much as the next lesbian but I have an even deeper respect for his music/art after I watched this video explaining the process and symbolism behind the album art 

here’s the album art. a cool photograph of Hozier looking pensive underwater, right? WRONG! It’s a PAINTING done by his mom Raine Hozier-Byrne that uses some cool photos they took as its source material!! 

so basically if you zoom in you can see images on Hozier’s arm and chest 

this one is an image of a protester throwing a can of tear gas back at police - i’m pretty sure it’s from this photo I found of anti-police brutality protests in Baltimore after a young black man named Freddie Gray was violently arrested and subsequently died in custody 

and the image on his chest shows migrants disembarking a flimsy boat on a beach somewhere

(i couldn’t find the exact image this was based off of)

both of these very politically charged themes can be found within several songs on his album, for example 

“And I could cry power Power has been cried by those stronger than me Straight into the face that tells you to Rattle your chains if you love being free”   -Nina Cried Power

“When the man who gives the order Is born next time ‘round on the boat sent back When the bodies starvin’ at the border Are on TV givin’ people the sack”   -Be 

anyways putting these images on the front of his album is a powerful statement and i didn’t want it to go unnoticed because people (like me) didn’t see the details in the cover artwork at first 

I know everyone knows Hozier as the immortal fae being who lives deep in the forest but I just wanted to bring attention to his very politically relevant and poignant choices in the lyrics and cover art

Castle In The Sky (1986) Grave of the Fireflies (1988) My Neighbor Totoro (1988) Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) Only Yesterday (1991) Porco Rosso (1992) Pom Poko (1994) Whisper of the Heart (1995) Princess Mononoke (1997) My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999) Spirited Away (2001) The Cat Returns (2002) Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) Tales from Earthsea (2006) Ponyo On A Cliff From The Sea (2008) The Secret World of Arrietty/The Borrower Arrietty (2010) From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)

If any of the links stop working, please let me know so I can fix it.

http://www.congress.gov.ph

Building the airport in this location will destroy an ancient landscape, one shaped by the Incan people with terraces and routes.

Critics also suggest that planes flying low over the nearby village of Ollantaytambo and its archaeological park filled with ruins and a massive Inca fortress with large stone terraces, would cause incalculable damage to fragile Inca ruins there and destroy the peace and beauty of the area.

The new airport will make access to the site much easier, and thus encourage greater numbers than ever before to visit.

But Machu Picchu is already overwhelmed by almost double the limit of tourists as recommended by UNESCO. [see also India’s Taj Mahal - an incredible site simply reeling under a relentless, ineffectively managed tourist, both domestic and international, onslaught]

kaz, edgy bastard:

My mother is Ketterdam. She birthed me in the harbor. And my father is profit. I honor him daily.

anything that contains the phrase “secret BBC memo reveals” intrigues me automatically ngl but I want you all to know that as far as I can gather, the facts are even better than this headline

which is to say, this was part of an initiative in the early 1970s that not only featured marginalized groups on BBC programming, but made moves towards handing them editorial control – the BBC had to approve proposals, but after that, the station’s role was primarily to provide technical resources, facilities, and copyright handling. (another notable program under this initiative featured Black teachers discussing racism in the school system, and a link to that – plus discussion of the hurdles it faced – can be found here).

the program on trans experience was aired in 1973.

The programme, featuring trans women, began: “Jokes about ‘the operation’ are all that most people know about transexualism [sic]. Tonight’s group discuss their situation in a more serious and comprehensive way, and draw attention to the many difficulties they endure”.

2: David Attenborough was a childhood hero of mine and i’m glad to see he was always a champ

3: look at these related articles