fire-rabbit

[fire-rabbit]

I am once again taking the word twat away from americans until they stop pronouncing it as twot

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This is great, but I would also add, the people I love most in my life have never done anything to be considered great or famous, and it's maybe just possible that I would extend some of that grace to myself.

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Fucking perfect reblog. 10/10

this image is so endearing to me,, like,,

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Idea: dragon who hoards gold because she's an economist, and she's working hard to control inflation. Potions still cost what they used to? Lodging still affordable? Hirelings not demanding month-on-month pay increases? That's all her doing.

On the one hand, she will lend you the money, bit only at eyewatering interest. On the other, she runs a *really* reliable safety deposit box scheme.

If you try to steal the gold, instead of the flamethrower, you get a lecture on how flooding the market with that much gold would send the local economy into turmoil, and before you know it the townsfolk are starving because a loaf of bread costs, like, 100gp. And then the flamethrower.

[fire-rabbit]

She's not wrong...

Star Trek The Next Generation S4E5 Remember Me | "Maybe there's something wrong with the universe."

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I ESCAPED TAX FRAUD AND ASSAULT CHARGES THANKS TO MY TOTAL LACK OF SKILLS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

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And if they still don't get it, tell them to read literally any section or Night Watch.

I think some online leftists need to read Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett but believe him about it not being about China because it's not about China

These two sections live in my head rent free:

"‘Look,’ he said, rubbing his forehead. ‘All those people out in the fields, the water buffalo people . . . If you have a revolution it’ll all be better for them, will it?’

‘Of course,’ said Butterfly. ‘They will no longer be subject to the cruel and capricious whims of the Forbidden City.’

‘Oh, that’s good,’ said Rincewind. ‘So they’ll sort of be in charge of themselves, will they?’

‘Indeed,’ said Lotus Blossom.

‘By means of the People’s Committee,’ said Butterfly.

Rincewind pressed both hands to his head.

‘My word,’ he said. ‘I don’t know why, but I had this predictive flash!’

They looked impressed.

‘I had this sudden feeling,’ he went on, ‘that there won’t be all that many water buffalo string holders on the People’s Committee. In fact . . . I get this kind of . . . voice telling me that a lot of the People’s Committee, correct me if I’m wrong, are standing in front of me right now?’

‘Initially, of course,’ said Butterfly. ‘The peasants can’t even read and write.’

‘I expect they don’t even know how to farm properly,’ said Rincewind, gloomily. ‘Not after doing it for only three or four thousand years.’

‘We certainly believe that there are many improvements that could be made, yes,’ said Butterfly. ‘If we act collectively.’

‘I bet they’ll be really glad when you show them,’ said Rincewind."

Pgs 198-199 of the Kindle edition

And

"‘You see those armies over there?’ he said.

The buffalo holder concentrated his gaze.

‘Yes,’ he decided.

‘They’re fighting for you.’ The man did not appear moved by this. The water buffalo burped gently.

‘Some want to see you enslaved and some want you to run the country, or at least to let them run the country while telling you it’s you doing it really,’ said Rincewind. ‘There’s going to be a terrible battle. I can’t help wondering . . . What do you want?’

The buffalo holder absorbed this one for consideration, too. And it seemed to Rincewind that the slowness of the thought process wasn’t due to native stupidity, but more to do with the sheer size of the question. He could feel it spreading out so that it incorporated the soil and the grass and the sun and headed on out into the universe.

Finally the man said:

‘A longer piece of string would be nice.’"

P 227 of the Kindle edition

This this very relevant to a lot of leftist discourse bullshit I see everyday

[fire-rabbit]

Shout out to the the TNG Robin Hood episode

"Lower Decks is too silly."

DS9 took time out of their busy war story for Worf to join a moralist terrorist cell because his girlfriend wouldn't stop flirting with the woman who fucked her to death in a previous life.

[fire-rabbit]

Live the bit where Ponder Stibbons is complaining about the faculty rejecting his idea to split the thaum (fundamental units of magic) just because there was a teensy-weensy chance it would blow up the whole universe

Honestly, the fact that terry Pratchett has experience around nuclear power makes so much sense once you realize what magic is standing as a metaphor for in the discworld. Like, look at this fucking quote from going postal:

"That's why [magic] was left to wizards, who knew how to handle it safely. Not doing any magic at all was the chief task of wizards—not "not doing magic" because they couldn't do magic, but not doing magic when they could do and didn't. Any ignorant fool can fail to turn someone else into a frog. You have to be clever to refrain from doing it when you knew how easy it was. There were places in the world commemorating those times when wizards hadn't been quite as clever as that, and on many of them the grass would never grow again."

Like... It feels incredibly obvious what he's talking about once you know the context.

[fire-rabbit]

Happy Year of the Luminous Lemur to all who celebrate!

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Finished The Light Fantastic today, didn't read it with the same kind of attack The Colour of Magic inspired, but then it is a direct sequel, bound to happen.

I loved the building of the eldritch nature of magic as radioactive, especially in how it interacts with lightwaves. The playing off the idea of computers just being rocks we tricked into thinking is utterly breathtaking also. The idea that Discworld just gets the platonic idea of a computer and tries to extrapolate that to stone circles and eventually HEX is wonderful. The scene at Death's house is wonderful of course. I love how even by the end of The Colour of Magic, Death is sort of losing interest in pursuing wizards who won't die on schedule. Pratchett is very invested in the alignment of evil with mundanity and bureaucracy, so letting Death relax a bit inherently makes him a bit more chill. Just hanging out learning bridge from Twoflower.

Oh also, I saw on reddit that Twoflower might be a mistranslation pun - either through French, 'fleur deux' - Florida - or through Greek, 'dis aster' - Disaster. I wouldn't put it past Pterry to be doing both simultaneously.

Solid five stars obviously. Untouchable.

[fire-rabbit]

drag race in the star trek universe would be the best show ever made. some ferengi drag king confused as hell because surely having the most expensive outfit means he should have won. Garak winning every sewing challenge and side-eying the 23 year old human making outfits with a hot glue gun. 147 year old Vulcan Cher impersonator

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Listening to UK radio interview about folk traditions. Presenter asks local why it's important to keep the tradition of annually performing a play involving singing about rearing, breeding, and then slaughtering a sheep, usually involving a real sheep skull as stage props. Lots of talk about preservation of local culture, literature, oral history. No mention of the obvious which is that we anger the Old Gods through our lack of observance.

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I wonder how many random people have liked one of my posts, and shortly after gotten a certain notification and thought "oh, the bird weirdo followed me"

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Star Trek Lower Decks "Fissure Quest"

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[fire-rabbit]

Finally reached the point where the TV adaptation of Hogfather has superceded Muppet Christmas Carol as my must-see December media.

Both are masterpieces in their own right, and the message of "if you want workers' rights you have to have scare the shit out of the capitalist class" is all well and good. But "shit's fucked and the only way to survive the worst authoritarian impulses of those in power is to cling on to what makes us human, have hope, and work towards progress even, nay especially, when you know you're fighting a losing battle, because if you don't do it nobody will" seems a bit more appropriate right now.

Also Susan Sto-Helit is a fucking queen.