#Sometimes it's pedestrians

[tswwwit]

I had a lil daydream about Bill driving and honestly just imagine how CHAOTIC it would be. Maybe Dipper gets injured so Bill has to be the Getaway Driver but it's his first time driving a car while physics is in play. Cue Dipper white-knuckling the handle, more afraid of dying in a crash than from the Big Fucking Wound in his side. Bill's so anxious that he just panic cranks up Chiquitita and sings along because Dipper Likes This, Right? This'll Calm Him Down

Dipper white-knuckling and screaming is pretty standard for any situation where Bill's driving, no injury required!

Bill is not allowed to drive very often.

[sage-nebula]

I loved the new IDW Sonic issue! Too bad I know without looking that people are going to be stupid and awful about Lanolin 🫠

[thistransient]

禁止進入

[vsyrworld]

every driver in summer slut era meanwhile checo chillin in the most "warkop tongkrongan" place ever. if his truly home town is in cianjur, i wouldnt be so suprised😭😭😭

[thesingalongsong]

“Put me on a pedestal and I'll only disappoint you

Tell me I'm exceptional, I promise to exploit you

Give me all your money, and I'll make some origami, honey

I think you're a joke, but I don't find you very funny,”

[captain-lovelace]

Seeing people be like “serious car crashes can leave everyone involved unharmed because modern cars are well-designed!” on that one post is so… yeah you don’t understand that my concern is primarily for pedestrians and bicyclists huh. You know, the people without the big metal cage around them.

[gregoftom]

scenes that make you go hmmm

[trivalentlinks]

Boston T (subway) to the beach

so i was just reminded recently that some folks i know who regularly use the T (boston subway), but aren't from boston did not know that you can take the T to the beach

here's how to get from some subway stops to the beach, for those unfamiliar:

Wonderland Station (Blue line) is literally on the beach. Get out of the station, and you will see the beach across the street. (Revere Beach) (subway stop to beach distance: literally across the street) .

JFK UMass (Red line) exit via Columbia Road, walk ~0.25 miles (400 meters) north/east along Columbia road (it turns into William J Day boulevard at the traffic circle) and you'll see the beach (Carson Beach) (subway stop to beach distance: ~ a quarter mile) .

Savin Hill (Red line): walk a third of a mile southeast along Savin Hill ave and you'll be right there (Malibu Beach) (subway stop to beach distance: ~1/3 mile) .

Orient Heights (Blue line): walk a third mile west along Bennington, you'll see a pedestrian bridge to your left with a sign for the beach. cross it, and you're there. (Constitution Beach) (subway stop to beach distance: ~half a mile)

.

the beaches in question:

Revere Beach:

Carson Beach:

Malibu Beach:

Constitution Beach:

Hope this helps someone!

[dandelionsandderivatives]

It's a beautiful winter wonderland outside, but unfortunately I have unwalkable things to do today

[angelinthefire]

I actually have a basic philosophical aversion to any discourse around whether character A just sees character B as "useful", and have for a long time. (I'm speaking vaguely because this could apply to Cas, or Jack, and also Kevin, and probably some other characters who aren't explicitly enemies too).

Because

Back around s5/6 (back when different sides of Fandom would interact more) Cas haters would come up arguing that Dean doesn’t even like Cas, that he sees him as another monster, etc. And when casgirls would come back with examples of Dean obviously being friendly, their response would be "he's just doing that because Cas is useful." This would happen repeatedly. Like if you weren’t around at the time, you need to understand that casgirls were constantly on the defensive. And how frustrating it was to be called "delusional" as a matter of course. When the Cas haters couldn't even recognize the most surface-level read of a scene, that Dean is being friendly towards Cas because he feels friendly towards him. And that they had constructed this - frankly, insane - narrative where the main character manipulates a major recurring character into thinking they’re friends because he had useful powers. Like, who would want to write a show like that? Who would want to watch it?

So that's my baseline that I come to this issue with. And the thing that I carry with me in all my interpretations is that the main characters care about each other on at least some basic level. Because otherwise, what is the point? Literally what is the point of these relationships, why would we care about them, why are there stakes in the characters fighting and making up again, why are we supposed to enjoy watching it?

And I'm not down with how I've seen it presented in fics and in posts that either A cares about B as a person, or A wants B to be useful in a fight and these are two mutually exclusive things. This is a show about killing monsters and saving the world. The main thing that characters do together, the way they build and show camaraderie, the way they self-actualize even, is by killing monsters and saving the world. It is therefore inherently a good thing when characters can participate in that, and an obstacle to the plot when they cannot. I think that's just something you've got to take for granted when approaching the show. Furthermore, being "useful" is not just for the sake of the character asking for help, it's also for the sake of the character doing the helping - they're contributing to saving the world, they're being heroic, it's generally framed as a positive step in their character development, etc. Like I don't understand it being framed as a one-sided exchange.

It's also important that this is a show that's obsessed with its own masculinity. Even if it developed a small amount in later years, that kind of masculinity where using an umbrella is seen as too gay, that's what the show is fundamentally rooted in. So it's to be expected that characters don't show affection in a normal way, that they can only do so when the world is ending, or they're dying, or they're breaking down, etc. That it happens in these big emotional bursts -- that also happen to coincide with peaks in the plot, when it's necessary for characters to band together and fight.

There's a sidebar about the loss of angel powers. It's been over a year since I've actually watched the show, so I'm not sure if the show itself contributes to this. And I'm pretty sure that Misha has made emo comments about Cas feeling useless without his powers. But I absolutely hate the "Oh no poor Cas (or Jack) feels so useless without their powers they have such low self esteem" thing. (Like Cas does have self worth issues but that's another point). Angels losing their powers is akin to a person suddenly losing their arms and their sight. It's entirely normal to feel shitty about that, and yeah, to probably deal with feelings of uselessness.

It being a normal response also means it's not the fault of the Winchesters or whoever else that whatever angel character feels useless. This is something that I see in fic way too often. Like Cas thinks he’s so useless and such a burden that it's not even clear that he knows Dean likes him, and it's all Dean's fault that he feels that way. Which, at bottom, does not make sense. Like, these characters need to realize that they're all friends, otherwise, on a very basic level, none of this works. Again, there’s nothing to be invested in, nothing to care about. (And obviously depression does things to your brain, makes you feel like a burden, makes you worry that no one actually likes you. But that's not how the fics I'm complaining about are written).

Aside from the fact that there are actual examples of the characters helping/caring/confiding/spending time with each other, and acting like they know they're friends. Despite the masculinity diseases.

If there is a problem of a character not feeling useful I tend to take it as a problem of the show elevating the position of hunter above all else rather than as an absence of basic friendship.

The one exception that I'm willing to grant, where feelings of uselessness come from a broken relationship, is Dean and Jack at the end of s15. Specifically. That's it.

But yeah, I generally cannot stand "usefulness" discourse.

[tj-crochets]

I would argue that at least some of your current super powers are useful and great, given the superhuman speed at which you create amazing crafts!! (I would kill to be able to sew/knit/crotchet so fast)

You know, I had not considered that a superpower, but maybe I should! Speed crafting! :D Thanks, nonny! I gotta say I like the speed crafting power a lot more than I like the "detect the presence of mint/coconut/lysol by wheezing" powers lol

[airenyah]

sometimes i feel like i missed out on a lot of "italian-ness" bc we stopped going there on a regular basis when i was 9 and i hardly ever saw that side of the family but then i come across a video on youtube titled "southern italians arguing" and it's just a civil (but lively) discussion about a card game the men were in the middle of playing and i'm getting flashes of what it sounds like when my sicilian dad gets real angry and it reminds me of that one time last year when i was working as an intern at a theater (in austria) and one of my tasks was to feed the actors their lines during rehearsals and one time the lead actor came up to me saying "i'm sorry that i'm always so snappy and impatient when i ask for my lines" and i went "this is nothing?? no offense taken"

or this other time, i can't remember if it was at that theater as well or if it was a different context (still in austria) but one time someone got a little loud with me (bc they were irritable and it didn't have anything to do with me or anything that i'd done) and afterwards those who were witnessing the situation were telling me "you do know you don't have to let yourself be treated like that and that you can tell them off, right?" and i was just there like ".......wait i was getting yelled at just now????"

i'm so used to my sicilian dad (and my half-sicilian brother) getting loud at any random minor inconvenience that it for real didn't even register that this person was "yelling" at me for austrian standards, ESPECIALLY since i knew i hadn't done anything wrong and it was all them and their bad mood at the time. and while i did realize that this person wasn't having the best of times in that moment, the fact that they were getting loud at me just simply didn't register. my brain honest to god just went "ah yes this is a completely Normal volume for this level of bad mood, cool cool" and i just kept chilling while everyone around me went "the audacity?? how could they be so rude to you?? are you okay??"

[thistransient]

the long way round

[mvncesa]

not to give my muses a trait from one of my friends again but flash is the sort of person who doesn’t really check the road before he crosses & will jaywalk without hesitation

[timoswerner]

these new people that have moved in 2 doors down have not endeared themselves to anyone i want moose the cats owners back

[forestfullofberries]

watching Motorcity in the year 2022 is so funny because it's a story that is fundamentaly against capitalism and authoritarianism, with a greedy CEO for an antagonist and a lovable team of underdogs who dumpster dive for resources and fashion their own gear, and selflessly protect their community for protagonists...

and then this show equates freedom to cars.