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Thread on alternative views of iconic landmarks you (probably) haven’t seen before 🧵

1. Mount Fuji from a plane window.

2. Arc de Triomphe, Paris

3. Aerial view of Kaaba, Mecca

4. A view of the Taj Mahal that you do not usually see, highlighting the stark contrast between opulence and poverty divided by a single wall.

5. Top down view of the Statue of Liberty

6. The backside of Tutankhamun's burial mask

7. The dome of St. Peter’s Basilica seen through Rome's most famous keyhole.

8. The worn steps of the Tower of Pisa

9. Photographer Alexander Ladanivskyy, in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, captured an extraordinary drone shot of the Great Pyramid of Giza from an unusual perspective.

10. The Shanhai Pass, where the Great Wall of China meets the ocean.

for images 11 - 25, please see the source, here

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this video kills me they literally look like they're reading ancient scrolls

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So I had a hysterectomy today (hooray!) and I brought along my stuffed orca, Shamu, as a comfort object. And everyone i interacted with during my pre-op was like "Oh! Who's this?" so I was telling them all about him, how he's been with me since I was 9 and gone on every single vacation and road trip, and they were telling me about their own stuffed buddies (one lady said she still has hers after 40 years!) and all of this while I was signing consent forms and providing a list of the things I'd brought with me, you know, small talk.

So then a nurse comes over and goes "Okay, I've got some stickers I'll put on your things so we know they're yours" and I'm like "OK cool" so she puts a sticker on my coat and stickers on my bags of clothes and then she turns to Shamu and I'm like "oh I guess he gets a sticker too"

But no. She pulls out a hospital bracelet that's an exact copy of mine and slaps it on his tail, like so:

And i was delighted by this, so I took a picture to send to my friends, who were equally delighted, and were cracking me up with their reactions (like so:)

Anyway, they take me back and put me under, and when I awake groggily a few hours later it takes me a minute to get my bearings, so I don't notice Shamu at first. But then I realize he's tucked up next to me in the gurney, so I grab him, and my hand touches gauze.

And I'm like "huh?" so I look at him and I realize

They gave my fucking orca a hysterectomy

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always blows my mind as a european when people talk about states like “yeah theres nothing in ohio/montana/wyoming/etc” because i look at a map like but. but theyre so big. every state could qualify as its own country what do you mean theres nothing there. and then i ask people from those states and theyre like “yeah theres nothing here” what do you mean theres nothing there!!!

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i hauve a cold

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Rosemary? You mean spicy pine needles?

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the gimmick blogs are like tumblr’s rogue gallery. yes we’ve got some heroes, yes we’ve got some villains, but more importantly if you look over here you will see some freak who devotes all their time to counting the number of “t’s” in a post

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So many people are talking about how disappointed they are in the season. I came out with the opposite feeling, and here's some reasons why: (cut because I wrote . . . 9 paragraphs on my phone about this . . . That's a lot huh)

Claire: So many people hate the presence of Claire this season and the lack of resolution. But I think it's no coincidence that the Faks spend the first half of the season establishing haunting and then make Carmy label Claire as his haunting (one of many). She haunts the story because everyone in the show expects something from her and Carmy, and they aren't getting it.

No forward progress: the first and second season deal with moving forward, at a break neck pace, regardless of the consequences. This season shows the consequences. No one grows, because The Bear, with Carmy's non-negotiables at the head, doesn't allow for growth. Everyone is stuck in the past, and some get to move through that, and others get even more stuck.

Vignettes and disconnect: the main through line is about pursuing excellence according to Carmy at The Bear. But there are a full 3 episodes fully out of step of that plot (potentially 5 if you include the last two episodes). 2 are out of time as well, with Tomorrow showing Carmy's education in kitchens, and Napkins showing how Tina ended up at The Beef. And Ice Chips is all about motherhood and breaking cycles of abuse. It's a season of disconnect, and you can take that many ways. A lot of people are talking it as bad writing, and as the showrunners fumbling the ball. I think managing a season with emotional beats and consistent themes in a non-linear narrative is so incredibly hard, and they hit so many amazing beats.

POC: I cannot speak to this, but the arguments I've seen are some of the only criticism I've agreed with in the season.

SydCarmy: yall, I've had my heart broken by ships far to many times to look at this reaction as anything more than pearl clutching. I saw how people reacted with Ted Lasso. I was here for the last season of Supernatural. So yes, I think their dynamic is cute. I also think they both have chemistry with other people, and that this season shows that they cannot work in the situation they are in now. People have complained about them losing their ASL sign, but neither of them are apologizing for anything to each other this season, so when would they even use it? Carmy used it a little at the end of last season, but Syd had totally stopped, and now so had he. Sydney is incapable of making a life changing decision (which oof, been there) and Carmy literally cannot think externally to himself. They are SO bad for each other even as friends right now, and they don't feel like end game. I know I do this too, but despite having platonic friends in my real life who I'm super close to, when I see it in fiction, I immediately see romance. And I'm working on that, because you know what I want here so so bad in season 4? Sydney and Carmen to have identities apart from each other, that can combine in a relationship (honestly I'd prefer platonic at this point) where they call each other out and support each other in healthy ways. Neither are there right now (though Sydney is WAY closer).

In all:

Some people are giving bad reviews, and I came away loving it. I hoped when I looked at the tags, I would find people excited, talking about the first episode and how it put them in a frantic trance, or how poignant it was seeing Donna sitting with the Faks while her grand daughter was born. Or maybe how with all the extreme close-ups this season, you still feel distant from the characters, because they refuse to communicate (a thing I also do and know a bunch of people that do!!!!)

A show is not a failure of storytelling if the characters don't change or develop. Sometimes the story is about being stuck, and not having a way out. Sometimes it's about the people in your life having huge, life changing events (death in the family, birth of a child, wedding of a co-parent) and being completely unable to be a part of it. And sometimes a story is messy and disconnected and cruel. Sometimes there aren't happy endings, and people do things you don't expect. That's life.

I haven't felt connect to a show in this kind of way in a long time. I got emotional from something that was said or done, or even a shot on screen, in every episode. And it was cathartic, watching a funeral where the kid didn't cry, seeing a panic attack at a party, and seeing a mother and daughter bond over something I will probably never bond with my mother over.

And there are other things I could mention, or talk about at length, but it won't change anything. It won't change people disliking the season, or dismissing it. It won't change the awe I had at chefs taking about their trade, or pea pods being cleaned, or the cinematography of the only title sequence they did all season. It won't change my want for the story to continue. But at least I got my thoughts out, so it's not stuck in me, like the apologies stuck in Carmen's throat, or the decision stuck in Sydney's head.

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Yall, who is this budget ass One Direction church?!?!?! Ads here are wild

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Mom broke her ankle…

(Source)