#and so y'know

[not-poignant]

Different anon here but wanted to mention that the last of us doesn't have zombies. It's actually just humans that are infected with a fungus infection that similar to the thing that happens to insects and turns them mad. Just thought I'd mention that since i was confused about it too lol

Hi anon,

I feel like you're kind of quibbling here to ignore the fact that I just broadly don't like zombie content. I appreciate that you want me to have something to do with TLOU, but I don't. So let's talk about this fungus and zombies.

Did you know that when Cordyceps was first introduced on mainstream media via David Attenborough in 2006, it was called the zombie fungus?

Did you know that the common name for Cordyceps when it was first discovered parasitising ants was known as the zombie-ant fungus? And did you know that the ants parasitised were commonly called zombie-ants? Not just by people who knew nothing about science, but by the scientists who discovered this.

I know a little more about Cordyceps and Ophiocordyceps than the average person (for a start, I knew about it before TLOU existed), so I know it's got a lengthy history with being considered the first biological evidence of something as close as we could ever get to zombieficition, and it's since inspired horror authors (and video game creators obvs) around the world.

So you pointing out that the game is about a new form of Cordyceps doesn't make this game any less about zombies as far as I'm concerned, because you know...the science and discussions around Cordyceps.

I mean obviously Cordyceps doesn't create literal zombies in the classic sense (these ants aren't doing anything more than trying to spread the fungus, even as their brains are completely taken over and they're directed into strange behaviours by it), but I also know that TLOU isn't a little fun slice of life romp in the sunshine.

I don't like horror. And I really don't like horror that has anything, on any level, to do with zombies, or anything like zombies. And while you can be like 'oh but they're not really zombies it's a fungus' I just want to point out that this fungus - Cordyceps and Ophiocordyceps - has been literally associated with zombies in the mass media and by scientists and by authors for like...decades, including by David Attenborough himself when he first drew more global attention to its existence.

[nereb-and-dungalef]

Mongolian history class, 2022, start of the semester. We're having a discussion on animal slaughter, featuring the one Mongolian student in our school.

The student explains that he's slaughtered animals himself, and there are two ways of doing it that avoid the spilling of blood. For a small animal like a chicken, you reach up into the chest of the animal and sever the arteries. For a larger animal like a camel, there's a spot on the forehead that, when hit hard enough, causes the animal to die instantly.

While this discussion is going on, a couple of the students are sharing something back and forth on their phone

The professor calls this out, asking if what they're sharing is more interesting than Mongolian animal slaughter

The room is dead silent for a few seconds. The two students look at each other awkwardly.

Eventually, one of the students pipes up:

"Well, the queen of England just died."

And without missing a beat, another student:

"Did they hit her on the head like a camel?"

[claypigeonpottery]

painted some of this with my fingers.

for authenticity?

no. I didn't want to wash my brushes

[egophiliac]

queen of diamonds, upright + reversed 💎

I've redone this like eighty times, I have to just be done with it now and stop staring at all my mistakes oh no 🫠

[oscarlovesthesea]

ok but he was fully flirting here. I think it's so funny that Charles was like "idk if I'm in love with you but we have all eternity to figure it out" and then literally an episode later he was like "welp time to start thinking about this!" and immediately started openly flirting with Edwin. you go bisexual king

[astrolavas]

happy autism awareness day/acceptance month, be aware of them

[some-pers0n]

Will Wood fans when you tell them there'll be grainy 144p live performances from 2015 where the guy sings the same songs they've heard a thousand times before at the function

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt in Memes 5

Once more, have a prompt entirely in memes because I'm too lazy to properly write one right now lol.

[sky-scribbles]

Hey do you guys remember how long it took for Essek to show his natural awkwardness around the Nein? Do you remember how they were friends with him for three months before he even tried making jokes around them? Do you remember the long slow process of him letting down the Shadowhand mask and openly showing how much he enjoyed their antics?

Did you see Essek just being himself around Bell's Hells, this bunch of weirdos he'd never met, even as he pretended to be someone else? Did you see him cracking that dumb joke about his pretend mother being able to stop time with enough ale, and laughing with them? Did you see him watching them for all of five minutes and going, 'This has been a very interesting first impression. I'm excited to see how strange this gets!'

Do you realise how much easier and freer with people he is now? How despite dropping the Shadowhand sleekness and showing his awkward side, he somehow seems more confident? Do you realise that despite the situation right now, Essek seems happy?

[myiliterallyhavenolifegoals]

i'll be honest, as soon as edwin's personality was firmly established as Detective Inspector Bitch™️ i genuinely expected charles to be off to the side like "uuugh 🙄bloody hell this guy again, G O D you're so annoying (derogatory)", so you can imagine my utter delight that whenever edwin gears up to be just Insufferable, charles is simply watching him like

[somegrumpynerd]

Thinking about how Nightmare has 4 mortals and 3 of them are so so bad at taking care of themselves

[thespacesay]

apartment dwellers, or those with communal laundry situations.

feel free to explain your choice in the tags, especially how polite/impolite you view your choice.

[a-most-beloved-fool]

makes me a little sad when star trek ignores IDIC. like. vulcans are logical. that is true. But 'logical', for vulcans, does not amount to 'without compassion,' and it definitely doesn't amount to 'racial superiority.' Belief in 'infinite diversity in infinite combinations' should NOT result in the weird racist/speciest stuff we're getting in some of the newer treks. It does make sense that some vulcans are discriminatory. They're still flawed. But that should not be common or expected, like it seems to be in SNW. If it is, then it's a race of hypocrites, which. doesn't seem very true to Star Trek's message.

I think TOS Spock does a pretty good job of embodying this. Not always, it was the 60s, after all, but mostly. He was often trying to find non-violent routes, and get by without killing - even if they were in danger or had already been attacked. (See: the mugato, and the horta (until Kirk was the one in danger, lmao. t'hy'la > IDIC), the Gorn ship). Kirk, in his eulogy, calls him the most human soul he's ever known, and I've always read that as Kirk calling out Spock's overwhelming compassion.

It's just so much more interesting when Vulcans get to be radically compassionate. I want them to believe that everything and everyone has value. I want them to respect all ways of being. I want them to find ways for even very non-humanoid aliens to exist unfettered in society. I want them to see hybrids and think that it's amazing. Also, like, disability rep. I want Vulcans to have The Most Accessible Planet and available resources because they want everyone to feel accepted and valued. It makes for better characters and more interesting stories.

[lazylittledragon]

do any other artists feel like. yeah you're a 'good artist' because you draw things that look nice, but like. TECHNICALLY? you're really not great

i really hate that i can recognise that yes, my art is good, but is it VARIED? is it dynamic?? is my anatomy good? is it full of texture and colour theory? do i know how to do This? can i do That? no, not really. and that's quite painful actually

[egophiliac]

like mother, like son, but less wholesome this time?

(I couldn't decide whether or not to put them together, so have them in all the different ways!)

[sakuraspoke]

a little treat for the terzo lovers ♡