sing to the shelled ones

mostly nature and retro notstalgia with the occasional fandom hyperfixation thrown in

[parkchanwoohoo]

The facial expressions of everyone trying not to lose it are killing me

[gunsandfireandshit]

This is painfully American

[dirtbaby2016]

Americans be like it is totally normal for an entire stadium (including military members) to stand at attention while a fast food clown mascot sings the national anthem

[ginny-lala]

Oh my various Gods, what the fuck is going on?

[seravph]

“what’s the worst fruit” i hope you fucking die im strangling you what the hell is wrong with you. ‘the worst fruit’… has god not made all of these fruits in the same light???? cunt

[rottenlittlefink]

Red Delicious Apples

[punk-rocking-nerd]

[parakeet]

5th from the bottom on applerankings.com

[mitochondriaandbunnies]

I could not live my life without knowing why they called the Arkansas Black Apple a "tooth shattering oddity," and, well, now I know

[mossworm]

I like ichthyosaurs, they are like if a lizard was also a tuna

[motherblackcap]

I heard it was that time of year again.

[t4nku]

I legit needed to hear this

[anexperimentallife]

Also applies to "AI" "artists" and "musicians."

[setdeco]

PAOLO SOLERI, Arcosanti, Experimental Desert Town, Arizona, USA, 1970- 2018

[welcometothehole]

this trend of shitting on peer-reviewed academic studies in favor of tweeting “we already knew this was happening” is so soul-crushing. not to be an elitist cunt, but we have got to open the schools again. people genuinely seem to have forgotten that their personal lived experience isn’t indicative of the larger population, AND IF IT IS…… then you need researchers to support these assertions from a relevant data pool instead of a blog post from 2013 💀

[naufragio-lunar]

Out of curiosity, here's a little poll. Please reblog, otherwise I don't think it will reach enough people to form any useful data!

How 'canon' is Missing Hours?

It's an episode of the show, of course it's canon!

It's canon but there's an in-universe explanation that isn't aliens, I guess?

We pretend it doesn't exist, but if pressed, yes, I suppose it happened.

What's Missing Hours? There's no episode by that name...

Remaining time: 13 hours 29 minutes

[mst3kgifs]

He's got his high beams on.

[urbnite]

[fignewmans]

I bought the Miami Vice book "Hellhole" based on a fic I read that quoted it and I want to show you the textual proof that hero Stephen Grave did indeed write Crockett as bi

[red-hot-moon]

Proof!!!!

[my-castles-crumbling]

Me, when I don't have time to write: Ugh I can't wait until I have time to write something!

Me, when I have time to write: What the FUCK this is excruciating

[hometoursandotherstuff]

[ecco-star]

Justice for Nile Freeman (TOG2 rant)

TOG2's sequel has come and gone, and the thing that sticks in my craw is how unforgivably it treated Nile.

I was absolutely not a fan of a lot of the retcons and new "rules" about the gang's immortality, but I probably could have overlooked all that for the sake of good characterization. But the script just plainly didn't give a damn about most of the characters, and Nile got the worst of that. (With Joe and Nicky running a close second.)

Nile never learning of her "immortal killer" abilities is absolute bullshit. The heroic arc she underwent in the first film is tossed out the window in favor of making her little more than a dupe and a plot contrivance. And let's be frank: this was done to serve Booker's storyline, which in turn was crafted to pull a "backsies" on rendering Andy mortal. It was a contrivance in the service of another contrivance.

But it didn't need to be.

This wouldn't have been my first choice of sequel plot, but there was room to take these elements and do right by the characters.

Imagine if Tuah had told Andromache of his theory about the transference of immortality. Andy, who may have resigned herself to dying before ever seeing Quynh again, might now actually have a chance to change that. For the first time in centuries, Andy may have found herself wanting to be immortal again. And yet, at what cost? Could she ask that of Nile, knowing of the guilt Nile might carry? Could she ask it of Booker, endorsing his most suicidal and despairing impulses? Does she place her own desires above the welfare of her family?

Or imagine if Tuah had told Nile. Nile struggled with questions of belonging and purpose in the first movie, and seemingly found it in Copley's cause-and-effect board. The young soldier who challenged Andy's cynicism, refused to leave Booker behind with Merrick, and talked Copley into switching sides in the first film might now reckon with her own sense of hopelessness. Nile is the sole reason this immortal family survived the first film, only to learn she might be its destruction in the second. It is such an absolute waste of Kiki Layne's talent not to let Nile actually DEAL with this.

And it could have been such a wonderful full-circle moment from the first film. She saved the immortals from Merrick then; let her new family rally for her now.

Or let Booker be forced to ask Nile, face-to-face, for the opportunity to die. No pun intended but Layne and Schoenaerts would absolutely KILL that kind of scene. Booker finally seeing an end in his grasp, while Nile faces the prospect of losing the immortal she had the closest connection with in the first film apart from Andy. And not only losing him, but potentially having to do it by her own hand. The angst potential was RICH.

And Booker. I love this character's complexity and justifiable despair. I hate that the plot bent over backwards to give him, and only him, agency over the question of immortality. Nile and Andy were the protagonists of the first film, but in the second they're little more than pawns in Booker's plot. He is so intensely shitty to both Nile and Andy, even if he has sympathetic reasons. It's a wonderfully complex idea that gets little payoff besides a simple action movie "guy sacrifices himself while teammate watches helplessly" trope.

At times, the sequel seemingly wants to frame Booker's death as self-sacrificing or redemptive, but I just can't see "Booker doubles down on lying, manipulation, and attempting to die" as any sort of character growth from the first movie. Tbh I'm on board with the idea that people don't really change and that Booker didn't undergo any sort of magical redemption during his exile, but again, we have a complex idea that's not handled with much complexity. Frankly I ended up thinking Nicky was completely vindicated in his stance that Booker had no business being welcomed back into the group so soon, and it's yet another missed opportunity for character development. Imagine Joe's devastation that his compassion for Booker was misplaced, or Nicky being proven right and hating every moment of it.

"But you just want fanfiction!" No, I want the Black heroine who was central to the first film's victory continue to actually MATTER as something other than a plot device to serve the sad white dude's pain. I want ideas that are set up early in the movie (Joe and Nicky disagreeing over how to handle a dysfunctional family member) to actually pay off. I want the "idiot ball" / "poor communication kills" trope to die. I want, in short, for the script to actually give a shit about its characters.

[saxifraga-x-urbium]

re ehrc guidance. which is not legally binding.

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]