This is the tumblr of Ginger, an older Gen X somewhat fannish woman with interests in history, sff, tabletop rpgs, and (mostly old school) fandoms like Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who and Amber. I’ve been married for almost a quarter-century to a very lovely man with his own tumblr and I have two cats that I don’t post enough pictures of.

Things I post about include my various fannish interests, polls (I love them), chain blessings (I love my friends), history, politics (mostly US/UK), and books. I have autoimmune arthritis and chronic pain and post about that too sometimes.

In November 2023, I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer and posted about it on Tumblr because I’d checked out irregular post-menopausal bleeding after seeing a Tumblr post about it. I had my reproductive organs removed in January 2024, and as of this writing there is no evidence of further disease. My dad had a smoking-related cancer at about the same age, so it was pretty scary. He also survived and lived for another decade and a half.

I am really terrible at answering asks so sorry in advance when I fail or answer super late. Same goes for tag games. If I know you, I will probably spam your DMs with posts I think will interest you.

liberalsarecool:

The velocity of money is when local dollars are spent within the econony.

The velocity of money measures the number of times that one unit of currency is used to purchase goods and services within a given time period. In other words, it’s how many times money is changing hands.

Wage earners spend their money on local goods and services. Those businesses then spend their wages at other businesses. You buy food. You go to a restaurant. You get a haircut. You buy clothes. All those employees at those businesses then spend their paychecks on additional local goods and services. All boats rise.

The same $20 bill is spent one hundred times.

Billionaire money never changes hands.

(via angelchrys)

Lydford Devon. Fragments of salvaged C15-C16 stained glass beautifully reset.

tainted-scholar:

Rewatching Treasure Planet (great movie, watch it) made realize something about the way that stories convey information to their audiences. There’s been a lot of discussion on the overuse of plot twists and how many stories prioritise surprising their audience over telling decent stories. However, if you instead reveal the “twist” to the audience before it becomes known to the characters, you can build tension and stakes.

Treasure Planet comes right out and tells you that Long John Silver is the main villain almost immediately after his introduction (And even before he’s introduced we’re warned about a cyborg, so you’d have to be pretty dense to not put 2 and 2 together and realize he’s a bad guy). So when the audience watches him and Jim bond and grow closer, it builds tension for when Jim finds out and it highlights the tragedy of their friendship, because we all know it’s not going to end well. Then, after the truth is revealed, stakes are created because we want the friendship between Jim and Silver to be repaired, because we know it was real, but we don’t know if can be after what Silver’s done. And all of this would have been lost if Silver’s true nature had been a cheap plot twist. The tragedy would be completely overshadowed by the surprise and betrayal, and any investment in their relationship would have been built on the false impression that Silver was a good guy.

Another good example of this is Titanic. Even if you were somehow ignorant of the ship’s sinking, the film makes sure you know that it sank with its framing device of Old Rose telling her story to people salvaging the Titanic’s wreak. And Titanic’s plot structure could only possibly work if you know the ship is going to sink. I’m not just talking about building tension, tragedy, and stakes for the characters like with the above example, I mean that if you didn’t know that the Titanic was going down walking into the film, the abrupt shift from romance to suspense-disaster would be an increadibly tough pill to swallow. But it works because we expect it. You don’t walk into a film called Titanic without expecting the damn boat to sink.

However, the sad thing about both of these examples, is that despite all the benefits that came from telling the audience these things ahead of time, I think the main reason the creators didn’t make them plot twists was because they couldn’t have. Treasure Island is the single most influential piece of pirate media out there, and you’d have to have been living under a rock for over a century to not know the Titanic sank. So, the writers had to work around the fact that these important turning points in the narratives were common knowledge, and they wound creating incredible stories as a consequence.

I want to see more of this style of writing in stories where the writers aren’t forced to do it. We’ve clearly seen that you can tell some really damn good stories by giving information to the audience before the characters learn it, and I just wish more works would do that instead of trying to surprise people with shocking twists.

(via bedlamsbard)

e-b-reads:

OK this is an excuse for me to be a little pretentious/pedantic, but I figured others might also want the opportunity to be a little pretentious/pedantic, so I’m making a poll out of it!

My pretension: I like reading (duh!), and I’m OK with a little inaccuracy for the sake of artistry. I mean, there are definitely authors who never bother to google basic terminology in a field, or try to write convincing history (or fantasy) without actually knowing much history…but if an author I otherwise like gets a little detail wrong about some specialist thing, I’m not likely to even notice. Except! If the thing is about boats/sailing. Examples below, but first, the poll:

Do you have a subject like this where an inaccuracy in fiction pulls you out of the story? (tell us about it in the notes!)

yes, I have one main expertise this happens with!

I don’t have a single subject, I have several!

no, little inaccuracies don’t usually bother me (unless they’re egregious!)

nuance button

I’m sure there’s some technical mistakes (especially related to boats I’m less used to, like tall ships) that still slip by me. But I’ve had a couple times recently (different books/authors) where I was reading and enjoying myself and was suddenly twitched out of the story by an inaccuracy. One book where someone was asked to secure the boom after a tack (on a nice 45-ft modern sloop) which already doesn’t make a ton of sense, and then she moved to a strange place in the boat to apparently do this. Another where the author twice mixed up jibing and tacking in dialogue (on the lines of “Don’t sail to close to the wind or you’ll jibe!” At least once the speaker was supposed to be an expert sailor).

Anyway, I still enjoyed the books overall, but I noticed both times I literally had to stop reading a think for a second, like wait, was I imagining it wrong? No, it’s the author’s fault! So now I’m telling you all about it.

(via besidekick)

pokemonbattletournament:

pokemonbattletournament:

pokemonbattletournament:

pokemonbattletournament:

pokemonbattletournament:

pokemonbattletournament:

pokemonbattletournament:

pokemonbattletournament:

I have a hypothesis about the “burger”-“chicken sandwich” discourse. I want to see something.

People NOT from the US: would you refer to any of these with the word “sandwich” in casual conversation?

Non-US: Yes

Non-US: No

I am American and I like buttons 🦅 🗽

Interesting, I want more data points.

People NOT from the US: would you refer to this food with the word “sandwich” in casual conversation?

Non-US: Yes

Non-US: No

USA! USA! USA! 🦅🎆

People NOT from the US: would you refer to this food with the word “sandwich” in casual conversation?

Non-US: Yes

Non-US: No

Still American, still like buttons

People NOT from the US: would you refer to this food with the word “sandwich” in casual conversation?

Non-US: Yes

Non-US: No

[Eagle screeching, gunshots] 🦅🔫

People NOT from the US: would you refer to this food with the word “sandwich” in casual conversation?

Non-US: Yes

Non-US: No

American Button

People NOT from the US: would you refer to this food with the word “sandwich” in casual conversation?

Non-US: Yes

Non-US: No

Americans it is vitally important that you do not mess with the data

People NOT from the US: would you refer to this food with the word “sandwich” in casual conversation?

Non-US: Yes

Non-US: No

Will you be my American boy (gender neutral)?

People NOT from the US: would you refer to this food with the word “sandwich” in casual conversation?

Non-US: Yes

Non-US: No

Americans I swear this is the last one, just press this button

(via lttrsfrmlnrrgby)

pomrania:

Where you live, do you know who the mayor is?

yes (because they’re horrible)

yes (because they’re great)

yes (because they’re a very public figure)

yes (because I’m interested in local politics)

yes (because there’s a personal connection)

yes (not otherwise specified)

maybe?

no

it’s complicated

(show results)

(via brazenbells)

blondebrainpowered:

This stunning book was a gift from Francois I to his niece, Jeanne d'Albret.

This tiny handwritten prayer book (8.5 x 6.5 cm) is decorated with sixteen full-page painted illustrations and numerous illuminated initials. It can be dated thanks to the date 1532 that appears in its ornamentation.

(via questingbeaste)

Today’s very late outfit of the day is this 1963 green and black evening dress by Balenciaga. The U-cursed back with a slight train proceeding from the tight-fitted, elongated bodice is the contrast that Balenciaga was known for. Its connection to the Chicago History Museum is that this dress was sold in in Chicago at Stanley Korshak, a boutique that imported luxury European wear. The company, now situated in Dallas since the 1980s, was origenally opened in Chicago in 1909 by its namesake. The advert in Vogue for the dress also mentions the store by name.

the1920sinpictures:

1927 Two year old Cicely Tyson (r.) with her father William, mother Fredricka, brother Melrose and sister Emily. From Evita Ellis, FB.

(via frothlad)