One Nice Bug Per Day
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
Sweet Seals For You, Always
Misplaced Lens Cap
macklin celebrini has autism
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noise dept.
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
official daine visual archive
Not today Justin
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Discoholic 🪩
blake kathryn
if i look back, i am lost
gracie abrams
hello vonnie
ellievsbear
occasionally subtle
will byers stan first human second
Fai_Ryy
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@daisukitoo
You may wonder how the Kpop Demon Hunters are protecting the whole world from demons even though they seem to be staying in Seoul. Do demons not manifest outside South Korea? Do we just ignore those demons and their victims?
Of course there are other teams elsewhere. To wit: The Baby-Sitters Club. The Baby-Sitters Club musical: coming to Broadway in 2027.
i really fuck with it when my oomfs start their posts in media res. they'll open it with a phrase like "it's just funny because..." and then i look at their blog to see what's funny and. nothing.
It's like how Beowulf opens with a call to attention.
posting is exactly like beowulf
This is roughly how Beowulf opens:
Only Beowulf went to Heorot instead of NASA. There were also some problems involved in both tales.
Due to work changes, we need to find a going away card that says, "Stay safe hiding in the hollow shell of your life." No luck so far at Hallmark. We may need to settle for, "Wishing you well."
This sounds like a fun concept for a horror movie sequel. Granted, "makers of a horror movie are now in that horror movie" has been done before, but how often has it been done well?
Which could either be a warning not to try it or that post of "stop remaking movies that were already good, remake bad movies that had promise." So start with a good movie and remake the premise that has often flopped.
Prior to the war, I linked to a tweet from Matt Yglesias which explained why Matt opposed the war, and I expressed my agreement with his sta
Okay I am prior committing to this being the last of my "how far Tyler Cowen has fallen" posts because at this point it is just punching down; the above is embarrassing levels of him trying to play his Just Asking Questions™ shtick to own the libs without confessing to it. He is implying-without-saying that maybe some kind of war was necessary, in response to Iran launching more strikes in the strait:
But given their reckless behavior in what is supposedly a wonderful war outcome for them, what is the correct way to model what they would have done had Trump and Netanyahu not attacked?
The correct model is they would not be bombing the strait. The thing they did not do for forty years, very reliably, they would have continued not to do.
The terrible things that are happening now, do they not reflect an underlying equilibrium that would have emerged anyway within a few years’ time, or do we hold some hypothesis here of extreme path-dependence, suggesting the Iranian government would have been less bellicose on more or less a permanent basis?
Yes, we do hold that hypothesis! If we didn't try to overthrow their government and murder their leaders, Iran would have done what it had always done for the past 40 years!! Why do I even need say to this??
I certainly agree that the massive militarily escalations before the current war committed by the US and Israel may have changed the balance, sure, but...that isn't proving anything at all. Like. Yeah? That is what countries do sometimes when you bomb them, which we had already done to Iran multiple times!
Also, he has a whole thread on here about how "if the peace deal was so good, why is Iran striking again?" and buddy, we didn't sign it. We haven't signed a treaty! It isn't real! The war isn't over! The US bombed Iran last week!
Iran is not a stable actor by any means, total shitheel government, but there is just no way around the fact that the US is just as unstable. We are a government run by feckless liars, obsessed with fake grievances and weird reputational hang-ups, captive to mercurial domestic politics that could swing at any time. I have no idea how trustworthy the new leadership of Iran - the one we put in power after murdering the old crop of leaders in a surprise attack in the middle of us hosting negotiations with them if you recall - is going to be. Because trust is a two-sided relationship, and it currently has no space to be tested.
They might be unstable, I fully believe that is possible. But that proves none of what Cowen is trying to say here, as he is conflating the current government of Iran with the pre-war one with a level of blase indifference I can only describe as dishonest. And with no argument beyond "hmm maybe?" for his case - a strategy as universally applicable to any point as it is useless in proving them.
It is painfully obvious to me that his demand for "hot takes" about how Maybe Trump Has A Point have outstripped the supply; lacking authentic arguments, he has been forced to invent them. "Markets in Everything" I guess?
The peace deal was so good for Iran that it was likened to unilateral surrender by the USA. Iran was attacked and has come out better for the war. There was a week of jokes about other countries requesting a US attack. Why would Iran not press that advantage? The peace deal had as its first plank that there would be no more threats or attacks. President Trump immediately threatened Iran. Indeed, most of the advantages to Iran in the peace deal depend on President Trump following through on commitments instead of restarting the conflict. This is less than assured. Why would Iran not press for stronger assurances before ending the conflict? President Trump threatened the negotiators, "You won't even make it back to your fucking country." Threatening the lives of the negotiators themselves during wartime negotiation should itself be treated as an act of war. Why would Iran not respond? President Trump previously attacked Iran in lieu of negotiations, had the previous Iranian leadership killed during negotiations, and has repeatedly violated previous deals. Why would Iran have any trust in the negotiated peace deal or worry about upholding their end while the fighting is still going on during a "ceasefire"? While we're just asking questions.
Portraying Nixon as a cartoon villain and the evil president is safe edgy.
I am very glad that we live in the era where a schism in the Catholic Church is a thing to laugh at on social media and not the prelude to a century or more of bloody religious warfare.
Are you guys like bf/gf?
we’re mutuals. do you not grope your mutuals’s boobs?
Rewatching the original "The Little Mermaid" animated movie while working on something else... I can't quite recall at the moment (early into it atm) if this movie ever establishes Eric as the heir of the throne of his kingdom.
I think it'd be really funny if Eric was actually a younger brother. So, like, maybe he's a duke, actually, but he still gets the title of Prince. Travels the sea a lot, unlike a more landlocked heir. Hanging out at this summer seaside palace while the rest of the family is elsewhere for some reason.
Like, imagine Eric's parents and older brother and maybe sister-in-law and niblings getting that letter at the end of this movie. Nearly drowned. Miraculously washed ashore. Fell in love with a mysterious voice and then a mute girl. Got enchanted by a shape-shifting sea witch and nearly married her. Killed the sea witch after she turned into a giant. Married the aforementioned girl who turned out to be the beloved youngest daughter of the mythical King Triton instead and have now established a strong alliance with the merpeople. Wild summer! Wish you were here!
Ooh, bad news about Agamemnon.
thinking again about when the Christian writer and theologian Russell Moore was invited to meet Pope Francis:
With the death of Pope Francis this week, my thoughts went in many directions, but one of them was the memory of my humiliation at the front door of his house.
Invited by the pope to speak at the Vatican on an evangelical view of marriage and fidelity, I arrived in Rome jetlagged and exhausted, having just finished teaching at a Southern Baptist seminary on Martin Luther’s view of conscience.
Going through security at the Vatican, I handed the Swiss Guard what I thought was my passport, pulling it absentmindedly out of my pocket, from the same suit I had worn back home. After a moment or two of his puzzled expression, I realized that I had given him a pocket-sized copy of Luther’s 95 Theses.
An archbishop there with me said, “Just don’t nail it to the door and you should be fine.”
I have instituted a New Rule for myself.
Every time I feel the urge to get in a pointless internet argument, I instead go to Wikipedia and make a page for one of the Nancy Drew books that does not currently have its own page.
It's about as time-consuming, adds to the sum total of human knowledge rather than subtracting from it, and has the added bonus of not giving me a migraine.
Inspired by an argument over whether a gorilla can own a banana as property: can a nice rock for opening clams be the property of an otter?
Hard-hitting analysis the mainstream media won't show you:
My silliest pet peeve is that every set of the Narnia books are put in chronological order nowadays. When I am very passionate in my belief that LWW is what is supposed to introduce us to the world of Narnia. Not Magician's Nephew. We get introduced to the world alongside the Pevensies, and then learn it's origins later on
it's not silly at all and I fully agree. Publication order is the best way to be introduced to this series (or any series really).
You have no reason to care about any of the worldbuilding and random explanations in Magician's Newphew if you haven't already read lww. You lose all of the wonder and whimsy of a random lamppost in a wood found in a wardrobe if you know how that lamppost came to be. You also probably don't care as much about the lamppost and all of the fun worldbuilding that comes with that explanation if you haven't read lww and aren't attatched to it. It becomes a random piece of worldbuilding for you to learn instead of a resolution to wonder from a previous book.
Publication order is the best way to be introduced to this series (or any series really).
Just stop doing chronological order. Publication order was good enough for the people experiencing the work for the first time, and it's good enough for you. The author did not neglect to write the book that properly introduces you to the world and then finally get around to it 15 years later.
(As I understand it, none of this applies to Discworld and you should ask around about reading order and not start with Colour of Magic. But for pretty much anything else, just default to publication order)
For television shows, you may want to watch them in the order they were made, rather than publication or chronological order. Sometimes the network airs episodes out of order, which makes character development Really Weird to say nothing of the plot for the season. Example: The Librarians Firefly aired its pilot as its final episode, but its first-aired episode was made under the assumption that it was a new first episode, so that is probably OK.
that theory that the Arkenstone is a Silmaril…it’s doubly implausible, but imagine if nobody knew. If the dwarves were guarded enough of their greatest treasure that…you wouldn’t even need to hide it from that many people, honestly. Mostly a few elves, and all wizards.
and then Bilbo sidles up to Gandalf like, “Thorin and all are holed up in the Mountain, but I think they’re being nuts, so I…kind of stole the Arkenstone, I think.” And (it’s been thousands of years since the light of the trees was doused save for the precious brilliance locked away in Feanor’s gems, since oaths and blood and war that raged until the skies cracked and the earth shattered, and the little people of the Shire have no memory of it at all) he pulls out a fucking Silmaril.
Gandalf: *spittake*
Gandalf: *hurriedly glances at Thranduil. the king of Mirkwood’s eyes shine with curiosity and greed, but not recognition, nor the terrible lust that overtook Feanor and his sons. right, right, he was never in Thingol’s court while the jewel that Luthien and Beren took was there. we’re good. we’re good for now*
Gandalf: That’s, uh, nice, Bilbo. Put it away, would you?
Gandalf, telepathically(?): EMERGENCY RINGBEARERS ONLY CONFAB NOW
Gandalf: [mental image of a goddam Silmaril in hobbit hands, labelled “thisfuckingrockagain.jpg”]
Galadriel, who watched 95% of her family slaughter everyone within 100 miles for several thousand years over these things, including each other and themselves:Â no.
Elrond, who was very nearly one of those people slaughtered, and did watch most of his town be killed before he and his twin were kidnapped for a while:Â Absolutely Fucking Not.
Gandalf:Â Apparently fucking yes. The legendary Arkenstone-
Galadriel: You’ve got to be kidding me.
Elrond: Thorin Oakenshield has a Silmaril right now?
Gandalf:Â No, no.
Gandalf: Bilbo stole it.
Elrond: *wordless sputtering*
Gandalf: @Galadriel [information packet: BilboBagginsoftheShire.pdf]
Galadriel: Oh yes, Belladonna’s boy, you were telling me about him last winter.Â
Galadriel:Â Btw, orc+warg army probably coming your way. Spotted it in the mirror last night. Thank goodness we dealt with Dol Goldur at least, huh?
Elrond: No fucking shit.
Gandalf @Gwaihir Windlord: hey, sorry to bother you again, I know it’s nearly mating season. but we have a situation again
Gandalf:Â [thisfuckingrockagain.jpg]
Gandalf:Â [oncomingorcwargarmy.jpg]
Gandalf: [flashbacktobadasseaglesinwarofwrathhinthint.mov]
I mean, given that Tolkien retconned “The Hobbit” so Bilbo’s little invisibility ring became an ancient piece of jewelry that controls minds and drives the mighty mad, one can at least understand why it seems plausible that the other shiny white gem that destroys empires and makes the mighty go mad with greed could be linked from his kid’s book to his gigantic early mythology in retrospect??
You know this actually explains a lot about why Gandalf didn’t immediately raise the alarm about Bilbo’s ring out of an abundance of caution. I mean, what are the odds, what are the fucking odds, that this one little hobbit stole both a Silmaril and the Ring of Power? Like, you are Gandalf the Grey and you have already dealt with the heart attack to end all heart attacks because this little innocent fool stole a world war inspiring artifact once. You still get flashbacks every time Bilbo offers to show you something and have to employ all of your angel’s serenity and thousands of years of learned composure not start giBbERinG “ pleaseletitnotbeanotherartifactpleaseletitnotbeanotherartifact”. And then. AND THEN! One day he’s like, “hey Gandalf let me show you this neat ring I found back on our journey”. And on the inside a tiny part of you is screaming “nottheoneringnottheoneringnottheonering” while a more rational part of your brain assures you it could not possibly be the one- “It’s this plain gold ring that’s very precious to me and turns me invisible!”
AND THEN YOU FUCK OFF AND SEARCH THROUGH EVERY POSSIBLE TOME YOU CAN TO PROVE IT CAN’T REALLY BE THE RING OF POWER, SAURON’S RING OF POWER, THAT RING, THE ONE RING, LITERALLY EVERY SINGLE TOME, BEFORE FINALLY FUCKING ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THIS SHIT IS REALLY HAPPENING AGAIN
@shewhodoesnotexist what says you? :P
I’ve never been a proponent of this theory, but I gotta admit the idea of Bilbo finding two world war inspiring artifacts is alluring ;D
Next you’ll be telling me Sting is Gurthang
Sting may or may not be Angrist, the knife that Beren used to get the Silmarill off of Morgoth’s crown
“Average Hobbit finds at least one world war inspiring artifact when on a journey” statistic inaccurate. The Spiders Took Family, who find a world war inspiring artifact every five feet they step outside the Shire, were outliers and should not have been counted.
