just saw a pigeon doing the puffed up courtship dance thing to another pigeon, and as he was strutting around he suddenly stopped for a split second to do a very brief preen-peck at his own side, then returned to the strutting around. and i surprised myself by instantly losing respect for the male pigeon in that moment, like come on man i appreciate you had an itch or whatever but how is she supposed to feel special when you're getting distracted by bullshit like that? which on reflection i don't endorse, i mean those are pretty harsh dating norms i'm imposing on these pigeons, from a total outsider perspective, for no reason. probably not all girl pigeons are as uptight about that sort of thing as i would apparently be if i was a girl pigeon, maybe she even found it endearing who knows, i don't know her. it's none of my business really. sorry pigeons.
I collaborated with the Human Artistry Project to make this strip alongside other web cartoonists to make the point that “Stealing isn’t Innovation” when it comes to A.I. usage. It seems to be doing numbers on instagram and elsewhere, so you may also read it here, tumblr.
May the discourse that ensues be long and unhelpful.
Spamton G. Spamton, commonly referred to as simply Spamton, was a culture hero and folk deity that rose to prominence in the earliest period of the American Century of Humiliation
Happy disability pride monthg . i need to stop putting off buying a wheelchair and noise cancelling earmuffs and sunglasses and a corset and a shoulder harness and chew toys and
the amount of Mother fans who don't engage with the political themes of the work is crazy. you mean you don't want politics in your game where you have to work a mindless factory job in real time to earn a living and incompetent cops beat you up for no reason and a fascist military force represented by pigs is directly opposed by nonbinary characters based on drag queens? are you reading the text or are you just letting funny nintendo colors slide off your brain like slop
Reblogging again because i had a moment to think about how brilliant this line is because even if it's accidental it's brilliant foreshadowing and set up for mother 3 as that's basically the central theme of the game, like if you remove this line you'd a really cool little connection and i just wanna appreciate how important these themes actually are to this series.
Had to write a three-page screenplay script for a "Discovery" for class. Didn't have any further instructions. It's super off-the-cuff, but I wanted to share it. Happy pride <3
INT. COLLEGE DORM - NIGHT.
A college student sits at his desk, sketching. It's a one room apartment, and his roommate is sound asleep. He's sketching in the light of a single lamp, being quiet. The student, GABE (male, 19) is drawing a cartoon version of himself. He's studying outfits from a fashion catalogue, drawing himself in different ones. He bites the tip of his pencil, not feeling the piece he's working on. He rolls his chair back, reeling away from the desk. Gabe puts his hands in his hair, leaning back and looking at the ceiling. He lets out a long exhale. It's late.
After a moment, he rolls back to the desk. Tapping the pencil to his head, he flips through the pages. It's an unremarkable task, stopping on a random page. Oh, the women's fashion section. It has simple, practical outfits for girls, including a jean skirt. Gabe peers at it. Fuck it, it's late. He erases the pants of one of his drawings and pencils in a skirt instead.
He pauses.
He stares at it.
Something here is weird.
He goes to erase it, but once he does, he just draws it in again. This time with more care. More detail. He stares at it again.
Tears well up in his eyes.
GABE
(whispering)
…what the fuck?
Gabe, confused, touches his hand to his eye. He looks at the tear on his finger. Huh? He stares at the drawing again. He looks back at his roommate, sound asleep. He's having some sort of moment, but he has to be quiet. He frantically looks back at his sketchbook.
GABE
(whispering)
Uh…
A beat.
Gabe starts drawing himself again. In the women's fashion this time. It's like a whole different world. He's drawing like crazy. It's all flowing out of him. He draws another.
And another. Slowly, details start to adjust in his art.
Longer hair. Longer eyelashes. Daintier poses. More smiles.
He's got tears running down his face, but he's not wearing any emotion. He's not sure what to think.
CUT TO
An indeterminate amount of time later. Gabe stares at his notebook. It's full. It's lots of drawings of him.
As…well, he guesses as a girl. But he's not one. He flips through the book again, then turns towards the dark window his desk resides next to. He looks at himself. Patchy facial hair and a shaggy haircut.
CUT TO
INT. DORM HALLWAY - NIGHT
Gabe rushes down the hallway, looking frantic. He's carrying a bag.
INT. DORM BATHROOM - NIGHT
It's quiet inside the bathroom. No one else occupies the space. It's just him and his reflection. His reflection? Maybe their reflection. Her reflection? No, that's not right. Is it right? Gabe stares at himself intently. The whirring of a trimmer cuts through the silence. He brings it up to his facial hair, shearing away a week's worth of fuzz.
He looks at himself like it's not him in the mirror. He holds a hand up to his face, feeling it.
It's not enough. Not yet. He has to know.
He gets out his phone and starts typing.
HOW TO SHAVE FACIAL HAIR OFHG
He frantically types, misspelling. He backspaces like his life depends on it.
HOW TO SHAVE FACIAL HAIR OFF ALL
THE WAY
He quickly scans an article and then gets to work, pulling some miscellaneous bathroom supplies out of his bag. Shaving cream. A razor. Gifts for cleaning up at college. He wets his face. Applies the shaving cream. Does careful strokes down his cheeks and neck. Slowly, someone reveals themselves.
They lean down, splashing themselves with water. They look up, and it's a different person. She's completely shaved her facial hair off. Gabe hasn't seen herself like this since she was in freshman year of high school, before facial hair was even an option. She reaches up and touches her face, smooth to the touch. She stares, enamored. A moment. She grabs a towel and dries her face off, and then looks again. She's so…different. But that's her! That's Gabe! Is it Gabe? She doesn't know anymore. A close up to her eyes. Her nose. Her lips. Her neck. It's all so new. She starts laughing. She laughs, and tears well up in her eyes a little. She laughs some more. In moments, she's full on crying tears of joy. She doesn't know why. But she is! That's her!
CUT TO
INT. SECONDHAND - DAY
Gabe is at a clothing rack, searching for something. She looks around, a little embarrassed. She browses for a moment before finding what she wants. She passes by some more racks carefully, trying not to be too obvious. She slips into the changing room, then locks the door.
GABE
…okay.
Gabe unbuckles her belt. In a moment, she's wearing black leggings. She hikes them up, then unclips a gaudy skirt from the clothes-hanger. She stares at it, a little scared of it and what it represents. She bites her lip. She stretches it out and then steps in. She looks up at the mirror.
Oh shit, that's her! That's her!
Gabe is wearing a long, patterned skirt and a tee-shirt. The colors don't match at all, and the patterns don't either.
She looks a bit like a yard sale of a person. But it's her!
She spins around, watching the fabric flow out from her hips in a whirlwind of stripes and insignia. She laughs again.
In the remote Buddhist monastery of Haeinsa is preserved the Tripitaka Koreana, the most complete corpus of Buddhist doctrinal texts in the world, dating from 1251.