One of my biggest literary pet peeves is when historical or history-inspired fiction pretends that "courting" is a synonym for "dating". Usually it's just a one-to-one word swap--in a modern context, these characters would be dating, but this is olden times, so they call it courting instead. Sometimes they'll pretend there's a shade of difference, and that courting is a more serious exploration of marriage or something. But I read a lot of fiction that was actually written during these historical eras, and the word "courting" is never used like that.
Two people do not decide that they are "courting". One person decides to "court" someone else. It's an action, not a stage in the relationship. A man decides to court a woman because he wants to encourage her to have romantic interest in him. He's trying to win her favor. It's not an exclusive relationship--a woman could be courted by multiple men at once. She'll spend time getting to know the guy who's interested in her, but they won't officially define their relationship as one where they only show romantic interest in each other. If they reach a point where they want it to be exclusive, that's when you propose.
There's no middle ground--either you're getting to know each other, or you're committed to marrying each other. This idea of a period where you kind of commit to each other until you decide you definitely want to get married is a modern one, and it occurs in eras where they use the word "dating" to describe it. The closest equivalent I can think of are times and places where they'd talk about a couple "stepping out together", but they're still not calling it "courting". Words have meaning, and the word "courting" has never meant that, so stop using it that way!
the other mild historical disjoint i run into is when people talk about dating in the fifties like it automatically meant exclusivity. the whole reason we have the expression "going steady" is because the default was to or "go around with" or "go out with" multiple people. not in the sense of being in a stable polyamorous vee, but in the sense that archie is actively "seeing" both betty and veronica during the entire time the two girls are competing for his attention and they're both seeing other guys to make him jealous, and nobody involved considers this "cheating."
bizarrely, America has in many ways gotten more conservative about dating since World War II.
The trend of going steady was met with concern and disapproval by adults. A 1951 book, Profiles of Youth, called going steady "a national problem", and said teens' greatest concern was "whether to go steady".[19] Some parochial schools forbid the practice after Catholic leaders declared "going steady is a proximate occasion of sin".[3] Advice columnist Dorothy Dix wrote, "The custom has all of the worst features of marriage and none of its advantages." Another syndicated columnist, Doris Blake wrote "It's simply a pernicious habit grown out of we-don't-know-what that has fostered this ridiculous custom of a couple of 16, 17, or 18 year olds pairing off to the exclusion of everyone else on the dance floor."[15]
theres too many pokemon games where you play as a kid whos full of life and full of potential. there needs to be a pokemon game where you play as a college dropout who lives in a shitty apartment
your starter pokemon are trubbish, rattata and glameow. which symbolise the trash you keep forgetting to take out, the rats living in your walls and the stray cat you keep trying to befriend but it keeps hissing at you.
you guys dont get it its not supposed to be dark and edgy its supposed to be living in a mundane setting and slowly rediscovering the wonder in the world by going on a journey with a magical trash bag that is your friend, its about love and recovery and coping with the stress of your adult life with your friend who is made of sentient garbage
You get home from work. Finally. The sun's already set outside your apartment window. At least your apartment has a window.
You discard most of your work uniform in the corner with the other laundry and click on the TV before landing in your couch with a heavy sigh. The blue light of the TV floods the otherwise dark room.
"Joining us today for an exclusive interview is Red, four time Pokemon League Champion, who also famously disbanded criminal organization Team Rocket at least twice! Thank you so much for tuning in."
Pokemon league champion, huh? You think to yourself. You used to want that. A child's dream - it was silly, really....
You'd heard of Red - of course you have, you don't live under a rock - but this was the first time seeing them up close, no filter. They looked tired. They actually looked about your age.
"Now Red," the reporter continued, "You've already told us about your travels through the world, your experiences as Champion, and your fight against Team Rocket and similar criminal organizations. I know we're almost out of time but there's one last thing we'd like to hear from you - do you have any words for the future generation of Pokemon trainers? Any advice for those just at the start of their journey?"
The Champion waited a moment before answering: "Yes. I meet a lot of people. A lot of people who used to want to be trainers. And I understand, it's not for everyone. But, people say 'Oh, you're still going at your age?' or 'Oh, I wanted to when I was younger,' or 'Oh, I couldn't now, I'm too old.'" Red shook their head sadly. "These people are my age, maybe even younger. They're wrong. It doesn't matter how old you are and it never did. It doesn't matter if you never got a Pokemon from the local professor at ten years old. It's not just for children. It's for everyone. The bond between people and Pokemon is not something you miss out on just because you had to grow up."
Red pauses again, and you realize you're paying more attention to the program than you thought you were.
"Pokemon are everywhere. The world is filled with magic. It's never too late."
"It's never too late..." you repeat under your breath. Something about the Champion's words clicked inside your brain. The world is full of magic....
As if on cue, sounds from within your apartment catch your attention: Rustling in your garbage can, scrabbling inside the wall, clawing at your window.
Cautiously you approach your trash can. It smells terrible, but then again it always does. You slowly lift the lid, and the rubbish inside shifts to reveal a green bag with white eyes. You knew that Trubbish were born from waste and preferred unsanitary environments, but you didn't think it'd been that long since you took the trash out.
The Pokemon shuffles to try and hide and knocks the bin over in doing so, spilling itself out onto the floor. You chuckle a bit.
"I guess now the trash can take itself out," you joke. The Trubbish seems upset by the quip. "Oh no, no, it's ok," you correct yourself, trying to spare its feelings. You find this creature, born of rubbish against its will, to be relatable. After all, you didn't ask to be in this trash heap either.
"It's ok," you repeat, more softly this time. "I'm. I'm trash too."
The stench from the trash can starts to dissipate as the Trubbish's... bag ties? ears? perk up at the attempted sympathy.
[A bond has been formed.]
~~~
[INVESTIGATE WALL]
You'd always blamed the noises coming through the walls on the neighbors, but this is too close to deny: it simply isn't a human-made noise. You locate a crack in the wall that you hadn't noticed before. The sound is getting louder. The sound is getting closer.
A piece of drywall crumbles away. You have just long enough to think Damn, I'm not getting my deposit back, before a very startled Rattata leaps through the newly made hole and bowls you over. You land badly on your ankle and let out a cry of pain, crashing to the floor.
That's definitely sprained... you think, holding your injured foot as you lie there in temporary shock. The Rattata seems apologetic. It vanishes back into the wall for a moment.
You swear. At least you have a compression bandage in your first aid kit. While you contemplate how best to stand without putting yourself in further pain, the Pokemon reappears, carrying a small blue fruit in its mouth. It drops the fruit beside you and rolls it towards you with a paw.
An Oran Berry, you recognize. Of course - Pokemon eat berries when they're hurt. Touched by the gesture, or perhaps not wanting to hurt the little creature's feelings, you take a bite.
It tastes terrible, but you power through it; you've eaten worse. Either by the berry's healing properties or the Pokemon's kindness, your pain eases a little.
[A bond has been formed.]
~~~
[INVESTIGATE WINDOW]
You go to your window and struggle for a moment to pull up the tattered blinds. You see two glowing eyes in the darkness. A Pokemon? They certainly don't look human, anyways. As a matter of fact, they seem familiar. The impatient scratching continues.
You open the window. A small, cat-like Pokemon hops inside, as if indignant at being kept waiting. You recognize this pokemon by the notch in its ear as the stray Glameow you've been trying to befriend.
It hisses at you. Which, for this particular Pokemon, is typical. As you go to shut the window you notice that it's favoring one of its legs while it walks.
Is it injured? Did it come to you for help? You were pretty certain this pokemon hated you. But, sure enough, you notice a cut on the Glameow's leg as it hops up onto your couch, as if it already lived here.
The Glameow seems to be avoiding eye contact. It occurs to you that it may have had no where else to go. You rummage through your cupboards to try and find a remedy. You remember seeing on the news that lemonade can be used in place of medicine for Pokemon who are injured. Moo Moo Milk is better, but you don't have any. You stopped buying it because it always spoils before you remember to drink it.
You had exactly one can of lemonade left. You crack it open and pour it into a bowl. The Glameow hisses again when you offer it, but soon gives the liquid a sniff before drinking it slowly.
You never realized how quickly Pokemon could heal. After it finishes its drink, it allows you to pat it on the head...
... for about two seconds before it hisses again. Still, the little Pokemon doesn't try to escape. It simply curls up on your couch and falls asleep.
men will do literally anything other than engaging in pro-social community-oriented behavior and then get online and complain about how masculinity is vilified and men aren't allowed to be heroes anymore
"all men really want is to feel like the hero" okay then volunteer at a food bank. get narcan training. step in when a woman is being harassed on the street. help out an elderly neighbor with shopping or home repairs. learn how to safely de-escalate fights. help your friends move. join or start your workplace union. become a big brother or volunteer coach for kids' sports. clean up your local park or get involved in some local conservation campaign. do your own damn dishes. notice what needs to be done and then do it. the world doesn't need heroes, it needs helpers. there are literally so many paths to finding a sense of self-respect and worth through pro-social behaviors that improve your immediate local community and help build your network of close personal connections. but these guys don't give a shit about actually contributing anything to the world. they just want to whine and fantasize.
their inherent lack of self-respect is belied not only by the fact that they can't imagine doing anything that contributes to building a better, more resilient society, but how they can't imagine that doing so might involve a lot of small acts and choices and not one big act of heroism that gets them on the news as Big Man Of The Year.
even before i lived in a place with a massive population of feral cats decimating the wildlife i had read the studies and knew the data said that TNR did not work and we need to be trapping and euthanizing feral cats but now that iāve lived in a place where there are an enormous number of feral cats itās like, inconceivable to me that anyone supports TNR, not just for the health of the world but for the sake of the fucking cats
nobody will even acknowledge it not even in most conservation circles. We have a solution to a massive, massive problem that is more humane, cheaper, easier, takes less time, prevents animal suffering, and saves valuable members of our disappearing ecosystem. And nobody is even willing to theoretically acknowledge that it exists outside of a few very small circles.
it works. It works. It is better for the cats. Itās better for the cats. Living in a place where you cannot drive 10 minutes without seeing a new roadkill cat almost every single day really makes you think about how much suffering could have been prevented if we just dealt with the problem we have created. Itās not a pleasant way to go, being hit by a car. Or being ripped apart by a predator, or eating a poison, or starving to death, of dying of an infection, or an illness, or any of the hundred thousand ways an animal in the wild passes without human intervention. Euthanasia is simply falling asleep. It is fucking wild to me that saying you think we should take responsibility for our mistakes and ensure that cats fall asleep peacefully instead of capturing them and then hurling them back out into the world SPECIFICALLY in order to allow them to die in agony makes people treat you like a fucking serial killer.
And if you donāt care about cats dying in agony do you care about the world around you? Thereās a species of bird we only know ever existed because someoneās cat brought home our only example. Thatās horrific. Weāve lost so much biodiversity because we simply wonāt listen to the research, which again, has proven that TNR is not effective.
https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/UW468 āHow Effective and Humane Is Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) for Feral Cats?āĀ
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6523511/ āA Case of Letting the Cat out of The BagāWhy Trap-Neuter-Return Is Not an Ethical Solution for Stray Cat (Felis catus) Managementā (also has a thousand references attached that are handy)
Not a reference so much as the human society actively admitting that TNR does nothing to decrease population, actively contributes to harming wildlife, and doesnāt actually help the cats in any way, just reduces some of the nuisance behavior that people complain about: https://www.animalhumanesociety.org/resource/real-impacts-trap-neuter-return
Unscientific from here on out as i donāt feel like trying to find the studies i read in like January of last year:
https://hahf.org/awake/the-trouble-with-trap-vaccinate-neuter-return/ āThe Trouble With Trap-Neuter-ReĀ (Abandon!) from the hillsborough animal health foundation, articles also link to studies
https://abcbirds.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/The-Evidence-Against-TNR.pdf from the american bird conservancy, has scientific articles quoted.Ā
Even More Sources on TNR being non-viable and ways that cats are impacting the world from birds to *hawaiāiās monk seals*
Animal Emergency and Referral Center of Minnesota. (2022, October 26).Ā Indoor cats vs. outdoor cats. Animal Emergency & Referral Center of Minnesota. https://aercmn.com/indoor-cats-vs-outdoor-cats/
Campbell, V. (2017, January 25).Ā The Obituary of the Stephens Island Wren. All About Birds. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/the-obituary-of-the-stephens-island-wren/
Castillo, D., & Clarke, A. L. (2003). Trap/neuter/release methods ineffective in controlling domestic cat ācoloniesā on public lands.Ā Natural Areas Journal,Ā 23(3).
Coe, S. T., Elmore, J. A., Elizondo, E. C., & Loss, S. R. (2021). Free-ranging domestic cat abundance and sterilization percentage following five years of a trapāneuterāreturn program.Ā Wildlife Biology,Ā 2021(1). https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00799
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N., Kirwan, G. M., & Sharpe, C. J. (2022, October 25).Ā Guadalupe storm-petrel (Hydrobates Macrodactylus), version 1.2. Birds of the World. https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/guspet/cur/introduction
Dickman, C. R., & Newsome, T. M. (2015). Individual hunting behaviour and prey specialisation in the house cat Felis catus: Implications for conservation and management.Ā Applied Animal Behaviour Science,Ā 173, 76ā87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2014.09.021
Edge. (2019, June 19).Ā Guadalupe storm-petrel. EDGE of Existence. https://www.edgeofexistence.org/species/guadalupe-storm-petrel/
Galbreath, R., & Brown, D. (2004). The tale of the lighthouse-keeperās cat: Discovery and extinction of the Stephens Island wren (Traversia lyalli).Ā Notornis,Ā 51(4).
Hawaiāi Department of Land and Natural Resources. (2025).Ā Feral cats. Feral Cats. https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/info/invasive-species-profiles/feral-cats/#:~:text=Feral%20cats%20on%20islands%20have,kill%20approximately%202.4%20billion%20birds.
Loss, S. R., Will, T., & Marra, P. P. (2013). The impact of free-ranging domestic cats on wildlife of the United States.Ā Nature Communications,Ā 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2380
McGregor, H., Legge, S., Jones, M. E., & Johnson, C. N. (2015). Feral cats are better killers in open habitats, revealed by animal-borne video.Ā PLOS ONE,Ā 10(8). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0133915
Medina, F. M., Bonnaud, E., Vidal, E., Tershy, B. R., Zavaleta, E. S., Josh Donlan, C., Keitt, B. S., Corre, M., Horwath, S. V., & Nogales, M. (2011). A global review of the impacts of invasive cats on Island Endangered Vertebrates.Ā Global Change Biology,Ā 17(11), 3503ā3510. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02464.x
National Research Council. (1992, January 1).Ā Scientific Bases for the Preservation of the Hawaiian Crow. U.S. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK235935/
NOAA. (2024, August 29).Ā Toxoplasmosis and its effects on HawaiŹ»i Marine Wildlife. NOAA Fisheries. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pacific-islands/endangered-species-conservation/toxoplasmosis-and-its-effects-hawaii-marine
Read, J. L., Dickman, C. R., Boardman, W. S., & Lepczyk, C. A. (2020). Reply to Wolf et al.: Why trap-neuter-return (TNR) is not an ethical solution for Stray Cat Management.Ā Animals,Ā 10(9), 1525. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10091525
Reed, L. (2022). The effects of free-roaming cats on native wildlife populations.Ā Wildlife Rehabilitation Bulletin,Ā 40(1), 17ā21. https://doi.org/10.53607/wrb.v40.250
Salano, E. (2024, October 5).Ā Eliciting the effect free roaming cats have on Native Hawaiian wildlife using stable isotope analysis. UKnowledge. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/biology_etds/103/Ā
Steele, J. H., Thorpe, S. A., & Turekian, K. K. (2009).Ā Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences. Academic Press.Ā
science says itās long past time to stop prolonging the suffering of feral cats, for the sake of the people, the native wildlife, and the goddamn cats themselves.
finding a new doctor. applying for jobs. searching for apartments. messaging used car dealers. getting your health insurance to do their job. getting a pharmacy to do their job. getting the dmv to accept the documents they told you to bring. just listing things they probably make you do in hell
I think one of the funniest abortion stances I've heard was from my parents neighbor. He's a like, hard-core libertarian viking larper guy who is very tall and very fat and very bald.
He believes a fetus is human with a soul, but also its "basically attacking the woman's body" so if she wants to get rid of it, that's "basically self-defense". He compared it to shooting a home invader. So he supports abortion not as healthcare, but as killing a baby in self-defense
Y'know I'm so glad someone reminded me of this. Because this was also discussed.
My stepmother did NOT like the way her Libertarian Viking Neighbor framed pregnancy as the fetus "attacking the woman". She incredulously told him this was extremely disrespectful to expectant mothers to portray pregnancy as so violent and negative.
Libertarian Viking Neighbor's response was that people consensually hurt each other all the time, and "there's like a whole community about that, with the acronym the one that starts with a B" And his reasoning was that if the mother was consenting to bring attacked by the baby, it in fact wasn't violent and negative because there was consent.
He brought up people consensually hurting each other, didn't go for one of the obvious answers like boxing or body mods or something, no he went STRAIGHT TO BDSM and he DIDN'T EVEN REMEMBER THE ACRONYM
I think that eventually I lost interest in writing post apocalypse stories when I realized that weāre living in the aftermath of hundreds if not thousands of apocalypses both small and large.
What do people act like in the apocalypse? Well, they act like people. The post-apocalypse is an ongoing reality.
The great dying in the Americas after old world diseases were introduced, the Black Death, the Bronze Age collapse.
Heck, around 74,000 years ago a volcanic eruption reduced the human population to less than 10,000 individuals. Possibly as few as 3,000.
Every single one of us is descended from the survivors of an apocalyptic event.
And if you think that doesnāt count because it was 74,000 years ago my question is, why? Why does that not count? Why is that devastation so much less devastating than any apocalypse youāve seen in media?
This right now in this moment we are living through is the ultimate ongoing fate of any post apocalypse. Life. With all of its messiness.
It's waterproof. It's windproof. It's lightweight and durable. And it's made from the intestines of two bears, painstakingly cleaned and sew
I really wanted to know more about this, especially how the water proof stitching works. Here's more information on this project, and hopefully more in the future!
What if Buffy's mom hadn't found out about slaying at the end of season 2 and Buffy had to convince Spike to stay in town and pretend to be in a band with her because that was the cover story they'd told Joyce
Low key I feel like Buffy would just see it as a cover and itās a āfake bandā but Spike gets like way into it and itās a Real Bandā¢ļø to him and heās a little annoyed Buffy doesnāt take it as seriously. Heās always like āyou missed practice this Tuesday what the hellās up with that. We have a gig next week btwā
#he starts trailing after her on patrol to bitch about missing practice or how she's sloppy on her chords #starts pitching in on the slayage because vampires keep interrupting his tirades #''EXCUSE ME we are having a ROW'' *stakes fledgling* #no chip necessary spike is literally the guy in the band with zero chill about the band #he undeads the band. he unbreathes the band. he spends all his time not sleeping... on the band. #(willow is their manager xander is the merch guy) #(giles was secretly plotting to lure spike into a trap until he notices spike is... actually better at corralling buffy on patrol than he is #because spike doesn't want her injuring her hands or doing anything that fucks with her breath control) #(giles is also weak to the nostalgia of it all and tunes their instruments when he thinks they're not looking) #(when faith arrives mid-S3 she's quickly recruited to sing backup) (via @entirelytookeen)
#spike after learning Oz plays guitar: why Ä°sn't he in the band? #buffy: he's already in his own band. which is actually a real band unlike our fake band that you keep forgetting is just a cover story #spike: we're never going to make it in the music industry if you don't stop calling our band fake
Spike (with reluctant but knowledgeable backup from Giles) finally convinces her that "Slayer" risks bringing copyright lawyers down upon their heads, a fate worse than vampires
Iām pro-pain killer but this website is so dang obsessed with ibuprofen itās like itās their only girlie and unfortunately I am allergic and wouldnāt want to mislead my followers about that. hashtag diversify my comrades
Tylenol (acetaminophen/paracetamol) is fantastic but if your pain is from inflammation, Tylenol won't help (it's not an NSAID/anti-inflammatory)
If you have moderate or major liver problems talk to your doctor about if you can use it and what your dosage should be
Do. Not. Go. Over. The. Daily. Dosage. Limit.
Ever. (Unless your doctor gives you the go-ahead for Tylenol specifically)
Do not take Tylenol every day. Talk to a physician about your pain.
I am so fucking serious about the dosage and how long you take Tylenol. It's an incredible drug but if you take more than the daily limit once it can send you into liver failure. Skipping all the warning stages and skipping right to the "you'll die without a liver transplant" part.
A lot of cold/flu medication has tylenol in it. Do not go over the limit listed. The safe limit for the average adult is 3-4g (3,000-4,000mg). If you're on certain meds or have certain conditions this may be reduced. I'd advise erring on the side of caution (3g/3,000mg).
Tylenol is genuinely completely safe to use as long as you follow the instructions. I'm not trying to scare y'all but this is something that you cannot under any circumstance overdo it on no matter how much pain you're in
when brandon sanderson talks about villains in his famous free youtube writing class video lectures he'll say 'what's the difference between gollum and sauron' and of course he means the villain that's present in the narrative and characterized in a way the audience can potentially relate to or sympathize with vs. the looming threatening anonymous far-off force (among other things). but every time he asks that i think 'well one of those guys tracked down frodo and got his ring back'
this isnāt what i normally post here but firefox just switched ceos and this āanthonyā dumbass is trying to put more āaiā slopware into it, meaning more bloat and privacy loss
if you use this browser you should go to their support forums and complain about it
"If he's going to die, he'd better do it and decrease the surplus population."
We're all familiar with that line, when the Ghost of Christmas Present throws Scrooge's own words of callous indifference back at him when he shows concern about Tiny Tim. It's a line that appears in nearly every version of A Christmas Carol...but I want to talk about probably my favorite use of it in any adaptation, and it comes from what is arguably the best adaptation: A Muppets' Christmas Carol.
Because here's the thing about that movie's version of the Ghost of Christmas Present -- he's genuinely friendly to Scrooge throughout their entire interaction. In many adaptations -- and in Dickens' original book -- the ghost is more harsh with Scrooge. It's in a well-intentioned way, but it's clear that the ghost dislikes Scrooge's attitude toward his fellow man and has no problem letting him know that. Some movie versions have him being more sassy with Scrooge than Dickens did, but there's definitely tension between them.
Then the Muppets have this guy
He sings and dances and is genuinely happy to meet Scrooge. I defy you to show me a version where "Come in and know me better, man!" is said with more genuine good will and spirit of friendship than how this guy says it. He doesn't speak harshly to Scrooge or criticizes him -- they even share a genuine laugh when Scrooge makes a joke about him having more than 1800 brothers, and he also jokes about being "a *large* absent-minded spirit." Before they leave Scrooge's house, he promises that "before the day is over, you *will* understand" what Christmas is truly about, and you know he means it. Hell, he almost sounds excited about the prospect of it.
And when they get to Bob Cratchit's house, the story plays out as it does in nearly every version (with the occasional added Muppet-related shenanigan), and more light-hearted humor is exchanged between Scrooge and The Ghost ("This is Bob Cratchit's house?" "How did you know that?" "You just told me" "Hmm. Well, I'm usually trustworthy"). They enter the house after Bob and Tiny Tim return home and we get another song, this one from Tiny Tim and the Cratchits before Scrooge asks whether Tiny Tim will live (and Michael Caine fucking nails the delivery, because of course he fucking does)
And then, The Ghost, who again has been nothing but genuinely nice to Scrooge up to this point, pulls out the haymaker
"If these shadows remain unaltered by the future, I believe the child will die. But what then? If he's going to die, he'd better do it and decrease the surplus population."
And it fucking lands. Because it's the first time that The Ghost has actively been critical of Scrooge and his actions prior to the night of their visit. Hell, it's the first time he's ever directly addressed anything from Scrooge's life before all of this started. And to me, it hits harder because of The Ghost's almost exclusively jovial and genial nature up to that point.
It's not said in an exceptionally harsh way, either. There's a bit of an edge to his tone, but other versions have definitely been more pointed about how they deliver it (the 2009 Jim Carrey version, for example, has the Ghost's face and voice morph into Scrooge's own for that line and lets the line linger for a moment before shifting back which is an incredible way to do it, imo), and almost immediately after, when he tells Scrooge it's time to leave, he is calmer and seems almost remorseful that they don't have more time together. Even their final exchange, when he tells Scrooge he will be leaving and begins to fade away, is full of what seems to be a genuine care for Scrooge's well-being -- as well as a call back that genuinely chokes me up a little
Now, obviously this movie is generally geared toward being more family-friendly than other versions, so they toned some things down from the book, but to have made The Ghost so genuinely friendly and still have him deliver the one line that makes direct use of Scrooge's own words and actions as a criticism of his mindset is just another reason I think this is one of the best, if not the best, adaptations of A Christmas Carol ever put to film.
Me when I contact IT and tell them yes I restarted and followed any instructions I could but computer still angry and IT says they are escalating this because it is an actual issue: I am getting a good grade in service desk ticket. Something that is both normal to want and possible to achieve.
The Jake Paul fight against Anthony Joshua gotta be a prime example of how desperately conservative wealthy douchebags like JP cling to the fantasy that they are physically the strongest, toughest winners of society. In what fucking world would a man like AJ lose to someone 5" shorter and 20 pounds lighter with no professional heavyweight experience. JP is convinced he can pay for the experience of beating someone at the top of their field, because that's what he wanted out of this. He paid for the ability to say "I can beat Anthony Joshua." He genuinely forgot there is something called the love of the game, and if this look in Joshua's eyes ain't it idk what is
i will never forgive the internet for making the phrase āfiction affects realityā inherently suspicious because like fiction absolutely does affect reality in the sense that the themes and messages of media can challenge or affirm peopleās biases, it can impact oneās ideology, so much of fiction is commentary on real social issues
and yet! everyone who uses the phrase fiction affects reality is using it as a pro-censorship argument and i simply do not fuck with that
