#this was in my drafts for over a year

[things-about-cars-in-posts]

These people constitute the driving force behind what one could call softroadification, whereupon vehicles are raised from nominally to somewhat perceptibly and slathered in placebo cladding...

...or molded into a separate, more SUV-esque model outright...

...without gaining any meaningful off-road capability - or at least not needing to, since every road the owners will drive them through could be traversed by the base model, its performance version, and in most cases, with proper setup and skill, a NASCAR.

But that does not matter, because they speak to the worrisome layman like Ryan Gosling in Drive speaks to the socially inept. For the low price of thousands more than the base model and higher running costs forever, they can drive over a sprinkle of gravel with the self-confidence of someone wielding a tool Approved™ for the job.

But let's not pretend all soft-roader buyers are people who'll only buy the microfiber cloth whose box says 'Works with iPhone'. In fact, most of them don't care about their Vaguely Unpaved Road Approved seal, and are just swayed either by looks or by wanting to "sit high".

However, the latter doesn't seem to explain the recent boom, given it correlates to no sudden change neither in human ergonomics nor in pillow existence awareness. The looks, then? Well, as seen above, they're usually the same as the corresponding base model, just a bit more off-roadery. But the appearance of adventure is rather appealing to the modern sensibility - our clothes are made with holes in them to create the look of a life in which things happen.

But that's not really all there is to it. Because sure, the Hummer was sold to those eager to cosplay the brave soldiers that brought home the gas it guzzled...

...but that platform had another era-defining incarnation - the Cadillac Escalade.

And this celebration of classless luxury is so far off AdventureMobile I've seen people offroad it ironically - as you would, say, a Bentley, or a Rolls Royce.

Even the SUVs they now sell.

Because think about it - even footprint being equal, an SUV is far larger, far more imposing, far... more. Some annoying doom artist could assert that the wealthy turn the world into a place they'd rather not be in and justify it with what it affords them to purchase, and thus it's obvious why the paragon of luxury has become having the most sheer matter around you and being the furthest removed from the world outside. I pray to God no one takes that opportunity, lest my eyerolling tear my optic nerves.

Anyhow, that made SUVs more cool than an equivalent sedan rather than less so, as other roomier body styles, like station wagons and vans, tend to be perceived. (And really, who wanted to own the car they were driven to school with anyway?). They were status symbols: of lifestyle -I climb mountains, I go surfing, I blow up Middle Eastern kids- of wealth -look at all the car I can afford to get around in- or both.

And of course, as often happens, a status symbol for the few...

...becomes considered cool, and thus it trickles down to every market segment because coolness sells. Yet again, the market finds, or perhaps builds?, a myth and sells it to the plebe, says the most annoying person at the function. It markets those myths as happiness and itself as the only way to them, he adds, gently attempting to resist the crowd pushing him out the door. "Shop like a billionaire"! are the last words to squeeze past the closing door.

Thus, SUVs have become the hot new thing. And some people -many people- just want the hot new thing.

We've all at some point wanted to make a choice that would make us fit in, be it by not expressing ourselves or precisely by doing so - because sometimes, people who seem to be hiding their true selves are actually just really that bland. And that is fine! Who could feel justified in imposing contrarianism? No one we haven't kicked out, at least! And similarly, if they find SUVs cool, who are we -especially who am I- to argue that they should disregard what they like and buy the most rational vehicle regardless of their tastes?

But since our economic system has snatched decision power away from anyone who isn't comically money-hungry, tragically risk-averse and tragicomically uncreative, the literal only thing any large brand has been allowed to do is chase an upwards trend, I say, hiding my arm behind my back in hopes no one will notice the aforementioned guest's bite. And this compounds to make placebo SUVs the only form of car ever allowed into production. Thus, the desires to 'sit high' and 'feel safe' grows along with the average car to see around and bear the brunt of, triggering a vicious circle funneling money out of the pockets of car enthusiasts and into the bank accounts of Ben Affleck cigarette meme merch shops.

Links in blue are posts of mine about the topic in question: if you liked this post, you might like those - or the blog’s Discord server, linked in the pinned post!

i rented this cabin for vacation and the owner had a note about the driveway, warning me that "cars without AWD are going to have trouble with it" and when i got there in my rental chevy malibu i saw it was like, your standard gravel driveway thats a bit steep and i was like, sir i grew up in the great lakes rust belt. i drove my shitbox late 90s chevy cavalier through road conditions that would make your range rover cry. i took that thing camping on worn out logging roads and never got stuck once

[theoptia]

Simone de Beauvoir, from Diary of a Philosophy Student: Volume 1, 1926-27

Text ID: I observe how much I have matured since last year despite my belief that I was losing myself, how something strong was born from the painful experiences survived and from the numerous minutes that I believed were wasted.

[sithlordemma]

The shit OP has to deal with, I’m telling you.

[fanaticalthings]

the muskification of twitter except it's lex luthor instead of elon lol

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[justwannabecat]

“Yeah, see, the Anti-Ecto Acts are even more troubling than ‘inciting war with the Realm of the Dead and all its gods’ level.” Phantom began. “It affects the living, even outside of that.”

Constantine huffed, but didn’t disagree. Bruce could only guess what he was thinking.

“At least, from what Clockwork taught me,” Phantom continued, and that made Constantine snap to attention, “ectoplasm is just kind of… There. Floating around in the background, but at such a low level that it doesn’t usually manifest. But it’s still there, and it functions kind of like radiation: just being around it might cause you to develop liminality.”

“Liminality?” Bruce asked. Phantom shrugged.

“Any side effects you would notice are only caused by high levels of exposure, nothing like this low-level radiation. But, well… Ectoplasm is both attracted to emotions and attracted by emotions. And ectoplasm heightens emotions, too. The fact that the human race has been alive so long, evolved to feel more complex emotions, it’s because the ectoplasm bonded enough with humanity to allow that. Humans achieved sentience because they could feel enough to determine they existed. Without ectoplasm, slowly those emotions will fade. And…” Phantom hesitated.

“…I can’t say that humanity will become nonsentient once again, not for sure. But I can say that you will slowly, generation by generation, lose the feelings you have now.”

[pasta-pardner]

broad shoulders. itty bitty waist. flat pancake ass. how delightfully Shaped he is

[guzmanstark]

well.

[criminalizegolf]

any printer born after 2007 can't print... all they know is bluetooth , hide they usb port, tray feed error, be out of magenta , eat paper & tell HP my social security number

[cozylittleartblog]

New Family Speedrun 00:09.12 (World Record Not Clickbait???)

[ninjasmudge]

heeeyy i rewatched soul eater and i like to cross over interests heres some soul eater narilamb designs i had fun on. narinder being a death scythe was just too good of an opportunity to pass up

these two are not at the school i figured they were more likely to be teachers there, or off on their own. theyre both very into the aesthetic.

lamb can resonate with pretty much anyone, and narinder is very very picky, but when they were starting out, they kept doing soul resonance without meaning to

[nohr-selphias]

"I love you, Zevran. I hope you know that."

"Yes... Yes, I know that."

— commission art by @sinizade, posted with permission

[stationoneeighteen]

@buddienetwork event: home (insp. ❀,❀,❀,❀,❀)

[screwpinecaprice]

Worse is it's probably the same it make cents joke.

Draw the OTP and pun-hater by @looneyfrechie. The post itself is not loading for me so here's a reblog of that meme template in case.

[crabsnpersimmons]

me: i'm gonna clean up my desk so my sketchbook doesn't fall every 3 minutes while i draw today!

[3 hours later.]

me: ...i have made a miscalculation...

cleaning up my desk is proving to be a much bigger task than i thought, so here's an old comic i can't believe i haven't posted yet:

and a bonus ending:

anyways, i'll see you all soon after i clean up my desk

[visenyaism]

the reason all of the divine intervention and prophecies and magic saviordom work so well with Daenerys and not HOTD Rhaenyra to me is that Dany is an underdog. like teenage girl raised on the streets used as a pawn for her entire life until the moment she performed a literal world-changing miracle and she immediately decides to use the magic to help those even less fortunate than her. for lack of a better word it is magical the night is alive with the music of dragons.

however in HOTD the heir to the throne most beloved of her father established member of a dynasty that uses dragons as tools of conquest and state power having the same prophecy and magic just does not work for me because it is not anything special!!! the only thing she seems to want to use it for us to install herself and we don’t even really know why she wants power. Plus the dagger is goofy. 

[theglidingbat]

Okay we need to talk because-

Listen Bruce is canonically a large ass guy, and then there is THIS MONSTER HEIGHT OF A MOTHER FUCKER-

This poor tall ass bro went through so much and all I can wonder is about how truly big it is-

I mean what.

Anyways how fucking tall is Harvey really cause I've seen him he a giant of a man...how strong do y'all think two face is-

.....and not to mention the fact that Harvey is clearly JACKED. Why the fuck would a DA need THIS much muscle who he tryna impress-

AND HOW EASILY HE'S ABLE TO MANHANDLE BRUCE??

FYI- just- ignoring personal headcanons for a second, Bruce is 6'2 and probably around 210lbs in canon and Harvey dent over here is carrying him around like a pack of fucking grapes.

I need to know where the fuck this man got the time, do him and Bruce hit the gym together so Bruce is able to keep his cover and helps him gain all that- or did Harvey just decided one day during college that he needed to be strong and buff cause it's Gotham.

Was it Harvey's idea? Or was it two face's idea, or did they both agree like "yeah we can't get our ass kicked 'round here"

[or is it because they needed to be able to defend himself and finally stand up to their shitty abusive dad, to make sure they could never feel weak in the presence of his old man-]

Anyways Bruce probably has a list in which he's ranked all his rogues in physical strength and Harvey dent would definitely make it top five easily imo.