Every time I get groceries I’m always appalled at how little you can get for like, $20. I was making banana pudding so I needed vanilla wafers but the brand name nilla wafers cost $4 a box. The minimum wage in my state is $7.25/hr. My friend put it really well when he said “imagine you work for an hour and someone hands you two boxes of nilla wafers and said ‘actually this is a bit more than what I owe you’”

frankly I think a lot more people would be open to postmodern art if we all stopped pretending you had to be very smart to understand it and start acknowledging that the starting point for deriving meaning from it is frequently ‘this is stupid bullshit’

mutuals that I'd like to go on a walk with on warm spring days

Wanted to draw something quickly before the SAF concert, so here's Tatiana 💞

"Don't use Libby because it costs libraries too much, pirate instead" is such a weird, anti-patron, anti-author take that somehow manages to also be anti-library, in my professional librarian-ass opinion.

It's well documented that pirating books negatively affects authors directly* in a way that pirating movies or TV shows doesn't affect actors or writers, so I will likely always be anti-book piracy unless there's absolutely, positively no other option (i.e. the book simply doesn't exist outside of online archives at all, or in a particular language).

Also, yeah, Libby and Hoopla licenses are really expensive, but libraries buy them SO THAT PATRONS CAN USE THEM. If you're gonna be pissed at anybody about this shitty state of affairs, be pissed at publishing companies and continue to use Libby or Hoopla at your library so we can continue to justify having it to our funding bodies.

One of the best ways to support your library having services you like is to USE THOSE SERVICES. Yes, even if they are expensive.

*Yes, this is a blog post, but it's a blog post filled with links to news articles. If you can click one link, you can click another.

Doctor Who | 1.05 - "World War Three"

I don't know what tenth circle of hell my YouTube algorithm fell into, but I really wish it would stop showing me videos of 5 a.m. morning writing routines.

the snail

Is this actually Jstor or just some... not sure if I'd call it a fan account, but I can't think of anything better.

It's really JSTOR! We're on Tumblr for no other reason than because we love the sense of community here!

OUTLANDER 

1.01 Sassenach

post-dead man's chest rewatch thoughts

- (which number rewatch is this? how many times have I seen these movies since they first came out? couldn't possibly tell you)

- the opening scene is such a great mood-setter, and I think also exemplifies what makes these movies so fun when they're at their best (and from what I recall of the later entries, one of the most immediate places where they trip themselves up.) I am always having my most fun watching a pirates of the caribbean movie when it is being simultaneously earnest and self-indulgent—completely buying into its own concepts while also not taking itself too seriously—and that's what we get at the start of dead man's chest. the rain in the tea cups. elizabeth in her soaked wedding dress. will marched up in irons. on the one hand, it's a little cheesy, but it's all in service of something very sincere. the relevant information is that elizabeth and will were meant to be getting married, and that's been interrupted by will's arrest, but then we get all these fun set-dressing elements that aren't strictly necessary but heighten and underscore the emotions in visually dynamic, compelling ways

- all of that was a long way of saying that I like the opening scene, which I do! for all the above reasons, and because fundamentally I'm a sucker for will/elizabeth

- I think cutler beckett is a great villain, and tom hollander does such a fantastic job (obviously this is not within his control, but I love that he's a little short—the fact that he doesn't seem that physically imposing is then turned on its ear so effectively by his absolute surety and ruthlessness). narrative-wise, I also think it's a great way of raising the stakes from the 1v1 of jack and barbossa in the first film (which we still get in a sense with jack and davy jones, but now with the added looming threat of the entire east india company in the background)

- man, what's the point of the whole cannibal island sequence. just to call back to the "and then they made me their chief" line in black pearl? jack's afraid of the open ocean, so is the thinking that they moored at the first island they found (presumably where they also wouldn't be arrested for being pirates?) it just feels like such unnecessary, manufactured danger, and for what? okay, will found jack, and all but like 8 of the crew have been eaten/killed (relevant when jack tries to bargain with jones for his life) but surely there were more interesting, more plot-relevant, more character-driven ways of accomplishing that

- tia dalma is great, and so is naomie harris! I don't know if they were already planning for her to be calypso at this point, but I love the look of irritation she gives gibbs when he's like, "so was it the sea or a woman that davy jones loved?" and she says "both"

- I think this movie really glosses over jack's selfishness—or at least, it doesn't address it in the ways I want it to be addressed. we know he's selfish already, he makes it clear throughout black pearl that his first priority is himself, he's intending to screw will over from the jump if it means he gets the pearl back, but ultimately his and will's/elizabeth's goals align re: defeating barbossa, and so we don't actually see what would have happened if he had the choice to trade one of his allies lives for something he wanted. granted the stakes are higher in dead man's chest (his own life as opposed to the black pearl), but the whole movie, it's clear there is no one jack won't sacrifice if it means his own survival, and I don't think it's ever properly acknowledged. he tricks will onto the dutchman, tells him to say "jack sparrow sent me to settle his debt," which will doesn't have context for, but we do, and likely so does the rest of the pearl's crew listening, and that it's jack saying, will, tell davy jones that you're giving up your life for mine. and I guess, yeah, will has made it clear that he doesn't think of jack as a friend, and jack has no special loyalty to will at this point, but it's also not like there's no history between them—they were allies, they have taken turns saving the other, but now here's jack willing (no pun intended) to trade will's life for his own, seemingly without a second thought

- i love the design of the flying dutchman and jones' crew—a) it fucks tremendously and b) what a cool yet horrifying visual interpretation of these sailors who would have died at sea being literally reclaimed by it

- it's WILD to me that, in full view of the crew, jack makes the bargain with jones to trade 100 souls for his own (including will's!) and everyone, including gibbs, is like, hey sure thing captain, let's set sail for tortuga to find a bunch of dumb suckers we can trick into signing away their souls. no questions or concerns here. it's just baffling to me that at no point does anyone within the story question what's happening. jack, is your life really worth the lives of 100 other men? can we live with ourselves after misleading them into making this bargain? does will deserve this? do any of them deserve this? you already got like two-thirds of the crew killed while hiding out on cannibal island from jones and the kraken, and now you want to condemn 100 more men to death? at what point is enough, enough? maybe it's just me, but it feels like the movies sometimes swing into this place of expecting like, unquestioning loyalty from their audience when it comes to rooting for jack, like of course we all buy into the premise that saving jack is worth whatever it takes (to the point that rescuing him from the literal afterlife is the cliffhanger on which this movie ends)

- love the liar's dice scene, love stellan skarsgard's look of absolute horror when he realizes will is on the dutchman, love all of their interactions! the moment where bill is helping him escape and says something to the effect of, it'd be a lie to say I didn't feel the need to leave and find work at sea, but it'd also be a lie to say I didn't enjoy it

- man, the organ/music box motif, the complementary melody with tia dalma's, so good!! (although I feel like this watch, I only just appreciated how far forward davy jones is leaning over the organ so his tentacles can reach the upper rows of keys. like, he's really getting low over that organ)

- love the worldbuilding detail of how jones summons the kraken—practically, of course sending out this massive vibration would be the best way to catch the attention of something under the sea, and visually the build of the hammer rising and rising before the ominous heavy fall works so well

- (oh man, also, jones sending the kraken after that merchant ship and will escaping. one of jones' crew saying "maybe he was claimed by the sea" and jones immediate, furious "I am the sea" yes yes yes)

- when I was younger, I don't think I paid as much attention to what's happening politically between governor swann and beckett, but the whole sequence of him breaking elizabeth out of prison, that he's cashing in on the little loyalty and influence he still has, mercer murdering the captain at the docks, and governor swann now a political pawn for beckett to use on the promise of sparing elizabeth's life—all very compelling! so much of these movies seem to be about power in very immediate physical senses (who has a sword or gun, who's pointing it at whom, danger as something that can be escaped or overcome in the moment, an enemy in front of you that you can run from or attack), that then zooming out to beckett's institutional power, the dread that instills, how that motivates threatens compels norrington, elizabeth, will, and the governor—it's all so good

- i've said it before, I'll say it again, elizabeth disguising herself as a man while looking for will awoke something in me no less than any of her most iconic scenes in the first movie

- (I can't possibly call out all the specific shots I really love, that's what gifsets are for, but honorable mention to the shot of elizabeth's wedding dress sinking in the wreckage of the edinburgh trader with the music box melody in the background)

- way back at the beginning, when beckett mentions an arrest warrant for norrington, there's that reference to him having left port royal, and with most franchises, I'd assume that'd be their one-line way of saying the actor isn't going to be in this one, but no! I love having norrington show up in tortuga, drunk and disgraced, with no need to affect any of the restraint or decorum he had while being a commodore, and now he's blunt and reactive and so much fun to have on screen (would the old norrington have made that remark about elizabeth seeming attracted to jack? absolutely not! is it delightful that he's now in a position to notice and remark so freely on it, and that the observation hits so different coming from him, a man who sought elizabeth's love and was rejected, than it would from anyone else? yes absolutely!)

- but okay, speaking of jack and elizabeth—yes, I buy that elizabeth is attracted to jack, that he represents all the freedom adventure and excitement of piracy that she's found so enchanting since she was a kid, and of course I buy him trying to chase her as well, and I think it's a dynamic that nicely tees up the moment at the end of the movie when she distracts him with a kiss to handcuff him at the mast BUT I do quibble with its effect on the compass. like, there's attraction, sure, but it's a whole other set of implications to say that there are moments where jack is what elizabeth wants most in the world (cmon.)

- the isla cruces set piece!! god, sprawling dynamic swordfights that make the most of every aspect of their surroundings in inventive ways is such a staple and highlight of the potc films (though I do think this sequence also has some of the most examples of like, cheesy slapstick humor. which isn't a thing that bothers me on its face! but I do think the later potc films especially turn to those sorts of jokes as a way to undercut some of the sincerity, the old wink and nod at the camera, haha wasn't that crazy, looking at YOU sequence with dozens of jacks in the locker) — anyway, tremendous shout outs to jones' crew rising out of the surf, the flying dutchman exploding up out of the water, the absolute classic water wheel fight, elizabeth pintel and ragetti trading swords as needed while they jointly fight their way back to the ship, norrington stealing the heart! so fun, so much of the same energy of the cavern fight from black pearl (one of my absolute favorite scenes from the first movie)

- alright. okay. the kraken coming after the black pearl. what we've been building up to this whole movie. I like will using his prior experience of seeing the merchant ship being attacked to strategize how to best counter the kraken. I like that jack initially takes the last life boat and leaves! I think it's a very realistic conclusion to the, "to hell with everyone else, I am only interested in saving myself" attitude he's had for so much of the movie. I do like him looking back at the pearl being attacked and having a change of heart. I don't like that the movie seems to use that change of heart as a way of glossing over most of his prior actions (like, well he came back to help them fight this one time, and so see, he's fundamentally a good man, he was there when it counted, what about those 100 other men he was going to trade for his own soul? don't worry about it) the elizabeth/jack kiss would bug the absolute hell out of me except for the fact that it's her ploy to handcuff him to the mast, which is perfect. it's something will would never do, but elizabeth absolutely is calculating enough to realize the kraken won't stop chasing them if jack survives, and is ruthless enough to sacrifice his life for theirs. I like the look jack gives her once he realizes what she's done, a little disappointed, a little proud, fundamentally not surprised. I like that she's the one who forces jack to stop running (if he wasn't compelled to face the kraken, when would it have been over? how desperate would he have continued becoming in pursuit of saving his own life?)

- geoffrey rush descending the stairs as barbossa. peak ending. no notes. how I've missed you.

Nick Cave on A.I.

ALIEN (1979) dir. Ridley Scott Released May 25th, 1979

obsessed where stories where it is like. the mistakes are unfixable and the worst thing that could happen happened and nothing can go back to how it was. but there was still love in this and love will continue after this and love endures always.