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I mean yeah but I'd also argue most road vehicles that use gasoline fall into that category of things so deeply ingrained in American culture that people can't fathom them not surviving into circumstances where the world isn't focused on them, and where simpler, sustainable alternatives would do better. Not that I think Link's magic bike runs on gasoline, but the design's inspiration is pretty clear.

Honestly, motorbikes are honestly probably my second most despised vehicle to see in post-apocalyptic settings. They're even louder in cars most of the time and don't even offer the same protection. They're not as obnoxious in real life, but they're still a sign that the author has never thought twice about this sort of thing beyond what they're familiar with.

And I mean. To some extent I suppose worldbuilding and background details should come secondary to story-building. But when your worldbuilding has political or scientific bents to it you haven't thought about, you (not you Sunny) will look at best ignorant about these things to someone who has a deeper understanding of the subject. And at worst, your work will look like propaganda.

All this to say I prefer the magic talking boat - you don't see sail-boats that much in media nowadays. I'm becoming partial to them nowadays as I've started kayaking. Also his horses. They're pretty awesome.

Jeez, they weren't kidding about how every post-apocalyptic setting defaults to cars instead of bikes as the standard way of getting around

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Shit man, this math war is fucked. I just saw a guy draw a commutative diagram and say "one point compactification" or some similar shit, and everyone around him got folded into a 3-sphere and vanished into 4d-space. The camera didn't even go onto him, that's how common shit like this is. My ass is casting ε-δ and quotient spaces. I think I just heard "infinity-groupoid coskeleton tower" two groups over. I gotta get the fuck outta here.

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I love u narrative songs 💖💖💖

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(pulling out a knife in the bric a brac shop) put the bloody bits and bobs in the bag mate

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People in the UK especially, please don't give your ID to Spotify

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beautiful dash alignment

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“Don’t listen to yourself. Listen to the advice you give others.”

bad advice for me because i always enable my friends if it's funny enough

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Nerdy : Hurdy-Gurdy :: Nebula : Hubula-Gubula

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Started watching the new Gumball. It's about as good as dealing with Current Topics as I remember (which is to say, better than most adults, but still ultimately centre-left and cynically). But also it did end with children literally eating the rich so that's pretty awesome!

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Citing how devastatingly uncomfortable it makes people feel, a new report released by the Stanford University Sociology Department revealed Wednesday that it’s never okay to just start talking to someone you don’t know.

The report, which analyzed numerous conversations that took place over a nine-month period from September of last year through May, states that approaching a complete and total stranger and saying “Beautiful day,” “That’s nice, where did you get that?” or “Hello” is, under no circumstance, acceptable.

Full Story

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hmmm

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Wait I just realised you might've been referring to the 'car' bit of that post. Snarky response cancelled, that counts. Also it is cool to see boat rep in media.

Jeez, they weren't kidding about how every post-apocalyptic setting defaults to cars instead of bikes as the standard way of getting around

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Friendly reminder that I was promised some music recommendations by a certain someone :3

I'm going to be honest, I think I had a specific artist in mind that I really wanted to share when I sent that ask. And I've completely forgotten who they are. I also think I had several suggestions when I first posted that, but most of them have also left my listening cycle. But on the plus side, I now have a better bead on what you like in music. So:

1) Ponyphonic's Heart in a Cloud (and also all their other stuff)

I feel like there's an 80% chance you already know of Daniel Larson from being on the internet in the 2010's and enjoying cartoons at the same time (if the name doesn't ring a bell, Lullaby for a Princess should). But I still have to recommend his stuff, especially since he has a lot of overlooked songs that are still great, but not as dramatic as the ones covering Celestia and Luna.

Ponyphonic's one of the rare groups where you listen to one thing they make and it's immediately obvious they're good, regardless of how old you are or where you are in life. I don't believe in the concept of being 'the best' in any field that isn't absurdly specific, but if there was ever a vote for best musician, I think I'd nominate them.

I genuinely cannot recommend his stuff enough. He's got some of the best instrumentals I've ever heard, fantastic performances from everyone, touching lyrics, and often covers unique, emotional topics that you don't see in any media much, often because they're seen as cheesy or childish. A couple of those ones I think you might like are:

Walls, a song about the inherent limitations of interacting online. I initially disliked this one because stupid internet arguments are a topic that have been discussed to death, but in retrospect (and after many years of social and emotional development) I like the gravity this song gives to it. Usually when people complain about this sort of thing, it's just a joke about the writer's bad experiences. But this song leans more into how upsetting miscommunication can be, which is something that really speaks to me as a once lonely, neurodivergent kid brought up on the internet.

Idioglossary, a really upbeat tune inspired by idioglossia: languages that only one or two people (usually young twins) speak. But it's also about the joys of being a young child and the bond you have with your siblings at that time. Naturally, it's super fun to listen to and sing, and you can tell the writer was having a blast coming up with all new syllables to put on the page.

Harmony Ascendant: probably the most overlooked of Ponyphonic's songs about the two sisters, probably because it's A SIX MINUTE LONG HYMN TELLING THE STORY OF THE TWO SISTERS CREATING EQUESTRIA, with all the earth-shattering instrumentals and poetic lyric-writing you get from the best church music. And I'm irreligious, and have been stuck in churches against my will for choir things before! I'm listening to this right now and genuinely cannot express how magnificent it sounds, and how much wonder it evokes in me about a world I don't even live in.

Shy Heart: probably the most overlooked of Ponyphonic's pony songs. It's loosely based off what Fluttershy's arc in the show is supposed to be. It's written from the perspective of someone who's willing to socialise and able to be assertive to do so, but laments the fact that you often have to shout to get things across. That's something always resonated with me, even as I've grown to be less of an indoor cat. There's always going to be a sort of mismatch there between how you like to socialise and how swathes of society demands you do, and the harms that can come from being too forceful when that's not your instinct anyway. It covers pretty much the whole spectrum of problems from being someone like that, and I've felt very seen by it ever since I found it near the end of secondary school.

Bonus - Bucky and the Cowboys:

I am just now realising this might have been what inspired me to send that ask. This song's actually written by Daniel's dad about his time being very sick as a child, and being inspired to fight on by thinking of his situation like his favourite Westerns. I recommend you watch this on Youtube first just for the illustrations.

It's always nice to see that media (and by extension, escapism) can have a very good and profound impact on someone, especially amongst all the discourse and cynicism nowadays. It's not as deep thematically as Ponyphonic's other lyrical work, but it is three and a half minutes of pure emotion and storytelling, which I think you might enjoy.

2) Cadmium Colours (by Jamie Paige)

My most wild-card suggestion out of the… three. Technically.

I feel like vocal synths are something you're unfamiliar with, and I don't know if you'd get much enjoyment with most of the genre being in a foreign language, or translated, or otherwise very hard to make out the lyrics of. But if that's not an issue, I think Cadmium Colours might be a song you resonate with as a creative. It's about visual arts (and specifically people who do it for a job), but that feeling of needing to express your whole life through your creative work to be worth anything is something that's not restricted to any medium. It's especially strong when you're not doing well mentally, as it's one of your strongest lifelines against the Horrors, but it can also turn into a way of avoiding having to deal with your life in any capacity.

It's also maybe one of two pieces of media I've seen that covers the problems with being an artist that isn't focused solely on the 'starving artist' stereotype (or worse, implies that you make better work when you're deathly ill). It actually goes further and tackles why that causes problems for people: how your ambitions to be a great artist and find connection through your work often clashes with it being a thankless job you need to do to survive. Out of the two main problems in the song, I don't think that one is actually 'solved' per se, which I appreciate. There's not that much you can do about capitalism as an individual artist, but you can deal with your own issues to some extent, in a way that lets you enjoy making art with far less pain.

3) When you Wake Up (by Laura Shigihara)

Most of Laura Shigihara's work is instrumental and for video games (most notably Plants vs Zombies and recently one bit of Deltarune), but this is a recent lyrical song of hers that really stuck out to me. Linking the music video because she did a lot of pixel work for it, and it's absolutely beautiful.

I think these lyrics might be more direct that you're used to, but they still tell a very moving story. I am just realising it might be a breakup song, but the lyrics are vague enough that you can really take it as any sort of situation where you feel stuck in time while everyone moves on around you. It hit me particularly hard last year, when I was having to contend with the fact I was moving through uni and changing a lot, in stark contrast to the Covid years. Also trains and my changing relationships with travel throughout the years.

The instrumental is softer than what I usually go for, though I think that'll be a good thing for you.

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Sunny, that's a boat.

Jeez, they weren't kidding about how every post-apocalyptic setting defaults to cars instead of bikes as the standard way of getting around

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Well. I did it. 225 hours on one file, and I've made it to perfection on my first farm. Somehow, I think I still have a long way to go

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Jeez, they weren't kidding about how every post-apocalyptic setting defaults to cars instead of bikes as the standard way of getting around