wanderings.

I know Tumblr tends to be very US-centric, but there is something happening in my country that I absolutely have to share.

Soon, Brazil will host presidential elections. These are the first elections since the impeachment of our last president Dilma Rouseff.

The leading candidate is currently Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro is a man who has made racist, sexist, and homophobic claims such as, “I would rather my son die in a car accident than be gay,” and, “my sons would not date black women as they were well educated.” He even said to a woman that she was, “so ugly” that she, “didn’t even deserve to get raped.”

A few decades ago, when Brazil was under a military dictatorship, the government tortured many people for speaking out against the regime. Bolsonaro has said that, “their only mistake was not killing those people.”

However, something incredible has been happening.

A movement called Mulheres Unidas Contra Bolsonaro (Women United Against Bolsonaro) has been surfacing. The hashtag #EleNão (#NotHim) has been getting popular and gaining international attention.

Yesterday, women all over Brazil (and the world!) protested against Bolsonaro.

Here are some pictures.

São Paulo, Brazil:

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

Ilhéus, Brazil:

Cuiabá, Brazil:

Porto Alegre, Brazil:

Brazilians living abroad also joined the protests!

Zurich, Switzerland:

Madrid, Spain:

Melbourne, Australia:

New York City, US:

Protests occurred in over 62 cities around the world.

Normally “related works” are books, but it doesn’t have to be a book; the official rules say, “a work related to the field of science fiction, fantasy, or fandom … The type of works eligible include, but are not limited to, collections of art, works of literary criticism, books about the making of a film or TV series, biographies and so on.”

(when Hugo people say “fandom” they mean not transformative fandom or people who write fanfic, but a much broader spectrum of fans including professional SFF publishing)

It kind of blows my mind that the AO3 as a piece of software and a publishing platform would be eligible, but it makes so much sense; the AO3 is, in fact, a hugely innovative site, the work of hundreds of designers, programmers, database managers, and staff, that benefits the SFF community and writers as a whole in a unique and outstanding way.

a pretty standard arrangement for engagement rings. a raised stone is better than nothing. 3/10

a lovely, simple, elegant wedding band. a classic anybody would be pleased to get married with. useless in a fight. 0/10

huge. tacky. kinda pretty tho. but look at that raised diamond in the center. you could easily break someone’s tooth with this. 7/10

also huge and tacky. at first glance you’d think the rounded edge might not cause much damage but look at how those rows of diamonds are raised in the second view. you could really rip up someone’s face. 9/10

this one is almost elegant. no sharp edges, but it’s solidly built. you would cause more damage with the ring on than off, which is a solid basis for choosing an engagement ring. 5/10

a lovely design, i enjoy open filigree. however im not sure how said filigree would stand up to the impact of being slammed into someone’s face. 2/10

the twisting design is pretty, but im not entirely sure that socking someone in the jaw wouldnt break off those stones. it looks somewhat reinforced but do you really want to leave the Punching Power of  your engagement ring up to chance? i wouldnt. two raised stones tho. 6/10, pending experimentation

HAHAHAHA holy shit. thats Five raised stones, with reinforced prongs, for maximum damage at any angle. i highly recommend this ring both for its sapphire centerpiece and its capacity for causing pain. 10/10

That filigree you gave 2/10? much sturdier than the filigree tacky rings… Trust me. Those are super hollow and light on the settings so that they aren’t too heavy or expensive. (and so they don’t roll on your finger)

Also worth noting:

White gold = sturdier than yellow gold (which is why most prongs are in white)

Now, if you want a ring that’ll hold up to socking someone in the nose, may I suggest 10kt white gold (hardest of gold options, sturdier than silver, and more reasonable than platinum)

See how thick all that metal is? It’s not going to cave in on you.

And you can do this with it:

Honestly, it sounds so much better than “art block”. To me, “creative hibernation” sounds less like a negative thing and more like an organic part of the creative process. 

“Art block” sounds very definite. They sound like something you MUST actively fight against to break them down in order to continue. “Hibernation” on the other hand sounds more like a thing that happens every now and then but that will go away on its own when it’s time. It’s a stage of gathering energy for the next creative pursuit. Art block on the other hand is an artificial, mental block that actually just seems to solidify the more you treat it like an obstacle to get around.

This is Kjell Lindgren. He’s a NASA astronaut who just got back from 5 months on the International Space Station. There are two reasons why this picture is hilarious:

His wife is flawless and makes bad space puns to make him do household chores.

I have that shirt. Thousands of people have that shirt. That shirt is available at Target. Which means actual astronaut Kjell Lindgren, with his wardrobe already full of NASA-issued and logo-emblazoned clothes, was at Target, saw a NASA shirt, and was like, “Yes, I am buying this because this is what I want to spend my actual astronaut salary on.”

Courtesy of Wikipedia, here’s the poster NASA released for his mission to the ISS: