To Explore, Follow, and Share

I originally came here to fangirl but have learned so much more.

[wileycap]

I have no idea what to do with this, but wouldn't it be neat if Aang started doing all of his bending using the wrong style of bending? Just because he can?

Airbending? No, actually, it's humid in here. I used the water in the air :) nope, just manipulated the temperature with firebending. Common mistake! They look very similar!

Oh no, that wasn't earthbending. That was airbending. I'm basically just compressing the air! Sokka came up with that!

Avatar Aang comes in to give a bending demonstration, and immediately 60-year-old masters start gnawing the furniture because what do you MEAN that was waterbending!!! You made flames!!!? We've been studying this all our lives why would you come in and do this to us

[ai0lisauce]

Do NOT leave these in tags OP

[thekijs]

Aang is just fucking around with using air to waterbend, Sokka discovers liquid oxygen and promptly develops chemical rocket engines and uses them to go visit his first girlfriend, the moon.

[sconesfortea]

RIP Anthony Stewart Head (1954 - 2026)

[47witchyneurons]

When I get blood samples at work sometimes they’re still warm from being imminently inside the patient’s veins and my hands are always cold because all the labs Ive work in are in the basement and they keep it kinda cold for whatever reason (and I’m also just a chilly kid).

And I clutch the little warm tubes of blood and feel this sick person warming my hands and I think about how kind you might be and how I wish I could hold your hand and how badly, how really really badly, I want you to get better and stay warm and hold someone’s hand again.

And anyway sometimes it’s better to not think so vividly about the people I’m doing tests for. I’m a good little cog in a vast machine of people all trying to heal and cure, and my cog feels so fucking small sometimes. But I hope the blood I prepare for you helps you breathe better and laugh and wake up feeling well rested.

We’ve never met but you warmed my hands and I want you to know I love you and I’m rooting for you.

[heathyr]

i saw a post on twitter by a european saying americans are fake for their random compliments to strangers and their general cheery demeanor and like no. no no no you don’t understand. if you get a random compliment from an american on the street about your outfit or whatever, that is 100% genuine. we mean it. we aren’t lying we are making a small but fleeting connection with you because our lives are shitty but the human condition is enduring. oh god i’m clutching my chest

[distractedbyshinyobjects]

If you get a compliment from a random American on the street, know that they tried their best to keep from saying a peep to you but they literally could not hold it in. They HAD to say something.

[fremedon]

The other day a tiny gay man in a hurry bumped me on the Metro escalator and said "Sorry, great dress by the way" and then he stopped at the top of the escalator and turned around and said "AND a great hat. THAT is how we do summer!" and SPRINTED for his bus and I coasted on that for the rest of the day.

[unreconstructedfangirl]

Love this post!

When I first moved to Prague I had a colleague who had such great style, and I always complimented her because I thought she was hot and cool. Years later when we were friends, she told me that she always suspected me of trying to manipulate her somehow because that is not how Czechs roll, and it was really inconceivable to her that I was simply complimenting her with no ulterior motive, but that's culturally normal to me?

Also, I am married to a British person, and his mother is an artist -- she's a collograph print-maker, and she told me that whenever she wants a pick me up, she sends photos of her latest prints to me, because I can be counted upon to say something nice. What can I say? I love her work? Her prints are beautiful, so...not faking?

Americans have a lot of blind spots and issues, but saying the nice thing in their brains to other people is fine? Like? A little more kindness and connection isn't hurting anyone?

[aprillikesthings]

There was a post on r/askanamerican just the other day, by a guy living in Eastern Europe who has a fun backpack (it looks like a reeses cup package with a bite taken out of it!) and said he constantly got compliments on it from American tourists

And he was like...are all of you like that? You say nice things to total strangers as if you're life-long friends??

And the entire comment section was like: Yup. Absolutely. This is 100% a thing we do.

And someone looked up a picture of the backpack and shared it and we were all like OMG THAT IS AN AMAZING BACKPACK yeah if I saw someone in any city on earth wearing that thing I would in fact say something.

Sometimes posts on that subreddit are a trash fire, but we were all so happy to talk about times we've told strangers compliments or been complimented by strangers.

And genuinely, it's one of the few things that makes me proud to be American. Like. We have a reputation for telling total strangers when we like something they're wearing/doing. And we mean it, every single time!

[letsrevince]

[despazito]

[iridesia]

[contaiinedarmageddon2]

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

[victusinveritas]

He's prostrating himself before the Eucharist, in case you're wondering. Or possibly planking.

[vvatchword]

@apocrypals

[apocrypals]

Hi, pope expert here. This isn’t funny — popes only do this when they’re in extreme distress

[rainathrownaway]

We're all in extreme distress, he's not special.

[insomniacxan]

what’s your favorite way to heal in resident evil? 🪴

[noahnomore]

[clauonacloud-deactivated2022071]

[latinajedi]

[gay-jesus-probably]

YOU GET THE FUCK BACK HERE AND EXPLAIN THAT RIGHT NOW

[riluri]

well damn

[ospreyonthemoon]

[letslipthehounds]

Every time, I know what's coming, but every time, I just lose it at "Uh. That"

[homunculonimbus]

"Wow, you're really good at this, you should do this professionally" okay but have you considered that I don't want to because that would suck all the fun out of this thing that I do for fun and entertainment and it's actually a conscious choice to not do this professionally because that would destroy the very reason I do this to begin with

[homunculonimbus]

"You should monetize this hobby" You should go outside and leave me alone

[the-big-mood]

[wizardshark]

How do I explain Plato's allegory of the cave to my cat?

[sexshopshenanigans]

gato’s allegory of the fishtank

[evilscientist3]

the thing about fruit flies is that in the abstract, they live peaceful and irreproachable lives nibbling on overripe fruit and its attending microbes, but practically speaking they awaken some sort of primordial rage within me. Get off my bananas you little fucks

[abundantchewtoys]

[batsandboba]

“scientists don’t want you know” is a phrase that always cracks me up because if you actually meet a scientist they will be shaking and crying like an overstimulated chihuahua with the need to let you know

[sarkywoman]

The real conflict in Smallville isn’t Clark vs Lex, it’s Lex vs the Narrative.

I’m not even being pithy here. We have a character that is Going To Become Evil. That is the information we have going in. Then he shows up episode one, he’s kind and hurting and being emotionally abused by his father and the whole town hates him and he keeps trying.

But he can’t win, because the pitch that got the show made depends on him Becoming Evil. It externalises the evil as something that happens to him, rather than the Lexes in other media who often start out as arseholes who only get worse. This Lex could have been good, but he’s not allowed. The narrative says from the get-go, without subtlety because subtlety is not Smallville’s strong point, ‘there’s darkness in him’. And then it shows us a kind and intelligent man trying to escape from his father’s control and says ‘that guy, there. Don’t you see it? He’s going to destroy everything. Why? Oh, because he’s Lex Luthor. The narrative requires it.’ And that's the fucking tragedy.

[ficmylife4]

And part of the tragedy is so many almost-moments where you wonder if Clark could have helped him. On the brink of sharing his secret, of speaking openly with Lex, of showing someone believed in him and Lex wasn't defined or doomed to be like his father - on the brink, and then turns aside. Superman's Narrative keeps his secret, and though Clark sees the good in this young Lex he has just enough doubt or hesitation that he doesn't commit to trusting Lex, and Lex can see it. And Lex of Smallville, who does want to help, who wants to be worthy of trust, is pushed further to the end he cannot escape.

[2nd-massachusetts]

*gently takes your face in my hands* hey. remember that fandom is for fun. if you're not having fun it is ok to step back. if you're intentionally making it unfun for others it is ok to step back. none of this is real. go sit in the sun and smell a flower. i love you.

[prokopetz]

Sometimes you send something you found online to a friend because you want to brighten their day, and sometimes you send something you found online to a friend with the precise attitude and bearing of a cat very carefully lining up their paw with the back of another cat's head.