Vow Anon

Like, you have Luke. Luke who grew up as a farmboy and is now a Jedi. Okay, that’s great. He’s powerful, but he doesn’t actually flaunt his power to try and scare people. He tries to intimidate people, occasionally, but always with his lightsaber, because he is the shortest human man in the series.

This is Darth Vader’s son! This is the son of the man who choked people just because he could! This is the offspring of the man who could defeat entire armies songlehandedly! Luke Skywalker is his son! Luke! Skywalker!

Luke Skywalker, who begins the series by making the very impulsive, reckless decision to save a woman he has never met and does not know, simply because he got irrationally attached to her after seeing the message she sent to someone other than him! Luke Skywalker, whose plans almost always go:

Step One: run in

Step Two: ???

Step Three: profit

Like, Mara finding out Luke Skywalker is Darth Vader’s son is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read. She has threatened to murder this man innumerous times, and he continues to trust her and even save her life! He praises her for getting impatient and stabbing something because she multitasked! He says “I’m going to comfort my droid” and then literally actually comforts his droid! And this! This is the man Darth Vader somehow fathered!

Any character finding out is literally so fucking funny! When he tells Leia, she’s immediately like “No! You don’t have to face your father! You can run! Why would you want to face your father??? He cut off your hand!!!” The Noghri who meet Luke and find out he is the son of Lord Vader only believe him because they can smell it. Otherwise, with how chill he is, I wouldn’t believe him either!

What was Han’s reaction? Lando’s? Chewbacca’s?? I want to see literally everyone react to the fact that the tiny wizard boy is the son of one of the most prolific killers in the entire galaxy! It’s! So! Comedic!

Imagine Ahsoka’s reaction??? Rex’s??? Din’s??? Like, no matter what character you imagine, it is impossibly funny to imagine how they would react to the news!

031622

He is in a forest that is filled with ysalamiri that cut him off from the Force, he is surrounded on all sides by Imperials who want him dead, vornskrs who want him dead, and a Mara who wants him dead. His right hand is acting up because he took out a power supply. He has no idea where he is, he doesn’t even know what planet he’s on! Mara has threatened to shoot him, point blank, like four times already.

And he just lays down in the middle of the woods, with only Artoo and Mara to protect him from the bloodthirsty creatures ignoring everyone else to attack him specifically (vornskrs) and is perfectly content. He drifts in and out of sleep. He makes casual conversation with Mara.

Mara is over there like “I know I want him dead, but before I kill him, I’m going to force him to tell me why the fuck he is the way he is.”

Bro, Luke in Heir to the Empire??? Chef’s kiss. He almost gets killed saving Mara from getting killed by a vornskr, he is literally bleeding out, Mara made him drop his lightsaber again, and he has to ask permission to talk to Artoo. And he just, comforts Artoo? Just gives Artoo a lil pep talk? Tells him “Oh, everything looks fine, I’m okay, we can fix everything that broke off of you, we’re all good :)” Luke has his back turned to the woman who has threatened to kill him for breathing, and he’s just throwing out little compliments for Artoo.

Everyone is like: “Luke. We cannot let the stormtroopers and their ship of reinforcements go under that arch, they will kill as all.”

Luke: :D

Everyone: “Okay, we’re letting the stormtroopers and their ship of reinforcements go under that arch, hope you know what the fuck you’re doing, Luke.”

And Luke drops the entire arch on the enemy. He doesn’t even have the Force, he just cuts through stone with his fucking lightsaber without the Force, after being held prisoner for a few days then walking through a deadly forest for a few days.

I’m with Mara, on this one. Why is he the way he is??? Everyone else is like “yo what the f Luke???” and hoenstly, same? Luke just crushed the enemy and is like “Wow, good to see Lando again.”

Mara spends all of her internal monologues going “Why aren’t you panicking??? What is wrong with you??? You should be scared, why are you dozing off???” Luke, meanwhile, spends most of his going “Well, I’m sure it’ll all work out eventually” and “I know that I can do Jedi things, but I’m kind of a dick sometimes, am I doing the Jedi a disservice?” and “Oh cool, Artoo is okay.” Like, come on, Luke, have some concerns about the situation, please, the vornskrs are out for your blood specifically!

Hey 18 - 29 year olds,

Showing up like this, in a giant bloc, is how Republicans managed to go from “we disagree but we’re sane” to absolute unfettered madness in the space of 40 years. They pushed the Overton window so, so far right.

Keep showing up. Because that is how we push it back left, and make all those things we want—universal healthcare and housing assistance and trans equality and disability rights—HAPPEN.

DC Pride #1 - “Finding Batman” (2022)

Most characters in mythologies are personifications of concepts, or embody some natural phenomenon - like the story of Hades and Persephone is there to explain why the seasons change, Persephone being spring, Demeter - summer, and the absence of them both resulting in death (Hade's domain) and winter, and so we can't have Persephone stay in underworld all year round or have Demeter steal her back to earth permanently, otherwise they myth would lose its core function.

Interpreting the myth without the lense of the natural phenomena that it explains would make it lose an integral part of itself, and therefore make the plot and characters seem strange or unnatural. Why does Demeter hate Hades so much, seeing how so many mothers are okay with Zeus doing atrocious things to their offspring just because he's Zeus? Does Persephone actually want to stay or not? What's with the bizarre arrangement?

Most modern interpretations strip myths of their natural contexts, making them character-driven instead of phenomena-driven, which just makes them land differently - they can still be fine stories, just not myths, not is the traditional sense.

And now we get to this beauty. This is absolutely a myth, the most classical kind. The relationship between characters, who are personifications of objects, phenomena or concepts (in this case, online platforms) used as an intuitively understood metaphor for an event (the demise of Twitter and the Tumblr userbase being unwilling to accept Twitter's userbase).

The modern myth that is The Divorce of Tumblr and Twitter carries the themes of regression, corruption and downfall. Some of Twitter userbase used to be part of Tumblr userbase, but they left and changed (corruption). Now that Twitter is becoming uninhabitable (downfall), people are trying to return to Tumblr (regression, possible downfall of Tumblr), and to keep them off Tumblr is returning to its old cringe self (regression).

There once lived a young man, handsome as daylight, bright and strong. He was known as Twitter, beloved by the people, a favorite of the gods. His chosen companion, Tumblr, was not dear to the people or the gods. He, a traveling storyteller, preferred solitude. His tales were strange and often unpleasant to the ears, but enchanting in their vulgarity. 

One day, Tumblr's patron goddess, Yahoo, enraged by his vulgar words, put a curse on him. He was not to utter vulgarities, speak of the pleasures of the flesh. His stories of lycanthrope companions were lost to the sands of time, and with them, his last listeners turned away from him. 

Twitter watched others laugh at his beloved, turn him away from their doors, and a dark thought settled over him. He was perfect in every way, his only fault was the affiliation with the cursed taleweaver. And so, little by little, they drifted apart. 

In his travels, Tumblr stumbled into the temple of Apollo, who bestowed upon him the gift of prophecy. He made acquaintance with the trifecta of wise temple maidens who induced visions through hallucinogenic incense. His stories changed, still bizarre and often vulgar, but at times full of wonder and truth. 

At that time, Twitter enjoyed all the luxuries of the mortal world. He was the companion of kings, wealthy merchants, legendary heroes, wise philosophers. 

One day, a man richer than rich, richer than the God of wealth, went to the senate of directors and asked to buy the most precious thing in the entire polis. 

The senate thought long and hard, and said: "do you wish for our finest singer, the most sweet-voiced of the land, Spotifia? I am afraid I cannot part with her. "

"No, " said the rich man, his voice cold and harsh, "I said I have come to buy your most precious thing."

"Have you come for our gambler, the chosen of the god of luck, MAXimil? They earn us more riches than you can offer. I shall not part with them. "

"No," the rich man repeated, "I have come to buy your most precious thing. I have come for Twitter."

The senators laughed, then, for they knew this must be a joke. Twitter was too beloved by the gods to be owned as a servant. But the rich man did not smile. He offered money, then more and more still. As the goddess of hubris clouded his mind, he offered more money than he could afford to spend, more than the senate could afford to refuse, for it was enough gold to form armies five times the size of their polis. 

And so Twitter, the proud Twitter, the untouchable Twitter who laughed at kings and scholars alike, became a servant. 

As he was put onto a gilded ship to be sailed off to the rich man's land, he prayed to the gods that granted him beauty and strength and a sharp tongue, but none answered. His cruelty and vanity made them turn away, and he was too full of his power to notice. 

Finally, the young man remembered one more name. He called for Tumblr, his forgotten companion. 

First time he called, the birds took off and flew in all directions. Second time he called, the animals fled in fear. Gathering all the strength he had, he called a third time.

His call shook the earth and the skies, and in an instant, Apollo's taleweaver stood on the shore. 

Twitter cried in relief. "My love!" he called, "save me! Save me, and I shall be yours for the eternity to come. I shall bask you in glory and riches. I shall make the people love you."

Tumblr looked at the rich old man, at the gilded ship, gilded chains, at the other slaves that were meant to please the rich man during his trip, dressed in the finest clothes fit for kings and immortals. 

In France, solar just got a huge boost from new legislation approved through the Senate this week that requires all parking lots with spaces for at least 80 vehicles – both existing and new – be covered by solar panels.

Starting July 1, 2023, smaller carparks that have between 80 and 400 spaces will have five years to be in compliance with the new measures. Carparks with more than 400 spaces have a shorter timeline: They will need to comply with the new measures within three years of this date, and at least half of the surface area of the parking lot will need to be covered in solar panels.

Other measures on the table include building large solar farms on vacant land found alongside highways and railways, as well as on agricultural lands where feasible.

France’s national rail service SNCF also plans to install some 190,000 square meters of solar panels in 156 stations throughout the country by 2025 and 1.1 million square meters by 2030, all with the aim to reduce energy consumption by 25%.

The government also plans to build around 50 additional wind farms likes the one offshore Saint-Nazaire by 2050 in France. Measures are in place to reduce delays in building offshore wind farms from 10-12 years down to six years, and large solar farms from six years to three years.

In both work and observing, I have learned something about kids. A lot of parents try to get their boys to go fight. Of the young ones that do, they tend to be shy. You get the ones who just swing the boffer swords around with no regard for life, but, mostly, they’re reserved. It’s adorable. I mean, they’re kids.

At which point this six-ish-year-old girl whips out her certificate from the axe throwing booth and says “Nah, I’m fine.”

Folks getting into podfic: DO NOT DO THIS. First, advertising patreons on ao3 is a huge no go, even when you do it auditorily rather than via text. It is very much against terms of service, and puts the site at risk. Second, though: authors giving you blanket permission to podfic are not giving you permission to make money off their work. I can’t believe I need to say this, but if you are going to record fic for money? You need that fic author’s SPECIFIC permission. And you should probably be sharing any proceeds with them, though that is something you can negotiate individually. But taking something freely offered for free transformative use and making money from it? That is a huge violation of trust in the community, and could result in authors pulling their blanket permission.

But DG, you may say, I should get to turn my side hobby into a hustle just like fanartists do! Fine. If you are a skilled podficcer who produces high quality audio, you already have an option for that - go pick up work as an audiobook narrator on audible. It’s not hard for a skilled reader to find ocassional gig work that way, and it’s something I did years ago when I was poor and unemployed.

i’m screaming..

WES MOORE became the first Black governor of Maryland, as well as only the third Black governor elected in the country.

MAURA HEALEY became the first woman and the first openly gay person elected as the governor of Massachusetts, as well as the first openly lesbian governor in the US.

MAXWELL FROST became the first Gen Z and Afro-Cuban member of the US Congress after winning his race in Florida for the House of Representatives.

SUMMER LEE became the first Black Congresswoman from Pennsylvania after winning her race for the House of Representatives.

JAMES ROESENER became the first transgender man elected to a state legislature in US history in New Hampshire.

BECCA BALINT became the first woman ever elected to Congress from Vermont, as well as the first out LGBTQ person and openly gay person elected to Congress from Vermont.

ANDREA CAMPBELL became the first Black woman in Massachusetts to be elected Attorney General.

ARUNA MILLER became the first immigrant, first woman of color, and first Asian American elected to the Maryland lieutenant governor’s office.

ANTHONY BROWN became the first Black attorney general of Maryland.

ALEX PADILLA became the first Latino elected to the US Senate from California.

AUSTIN DAVIS became the first Black lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, as well as the youngest at 33. He is now the highest ranking Black elected official in Pennsylvania’s history.

LATASHA MAYES became the first out Black lesbian elected to the Pennsylvania state legislature.

NABEELA SYED became the first South Asian and youngest member of the Illinois state legislature, as well as the first Muslim elected to the Illinois state house along with ABDELNASSER RASHID (see next).

ABDELNASSER RASHID became the first Muslim elected to the Illinois state house along with NABEELA SYED. He also became the first Arab American and first Palestinian elected to the state house.

ROBERT GARCIA became the first out LGBTQ immigrant ever elected to Congress after winning his race in California for the House of Representatives.

ROB BONTA became the first Filipino American elected as attorney general in US history in California.

STEPHANIE THOMAS became the first Black secretary of state elected in Connecticut.

SHIRLEY WEBER became the first Black secretary of state to be elected in California, after becoming the first Black secretary of state in California when she was appointed in 2021 by Gavin Newsom.

SHRI THANEDAR became the first Indian American elected to Congress from Michigan after winning his race for the House of Representatives.

CHARITY CLARK became the first woman elected as attorney general of Vermont.

ARVIND VENKAT became the first Indian American elected to the Pennsylvania state house.

RUWA ROMMAN became the first Muslim woman elected to the Georgia state house and the first Palestinian elected to any public office in the state.

ISMAIL MOHAMED became the first Muslim and Somali person elected to the Ohio state legislature, along with MUNIRA ABDULLAHI (see next).

MUNIRA ABDULLAHI became the first Muslim and Somali American woman elected to the Ohio state legislature.

LEIGH FINKE became the first openly transgender person elected to the Minnesota state legislature.

SALMAN BHOJANI became the first Muslim and South Asian elected to the Texas state legislature.

CLARE OUMOU VERBETEN and ERIN MAYE QUADE became the first openly LGBTQ+ women elected to the Minnesota state senate, as well as the first Black women elected to the Minnesota state senate, along with ZAYNAB MOHAMED (see next).

ZAYNAB MOHAMED became the first Muslim and Somali woman elected to the Minnesota state senate, as well as the youngest woman elected. She also became the first Black woman elected to the Minnesota state senate, along with CLARE OUMOU VERBETEN and ERIN MAYE QUADE.