#mustache bars

[urbanadventureleague]

The Bantam gets a new cockpit. Is it honeymoon time again?

All individual photos in this post: Olympus OM-1n–OM Zuiko 50mm f/1.8–Candido 400 It finally happened. When I last talked about my custom Bantam bicycle, I mentioned how I was getting tired of the drop bars and looking to change things up. Earlier this month I dropped off the bike at North Portland Bikeworks for a cockpit swap. Gone are drop bars! The project could have gone a few different…

[schmidtsbimbo]

he would come home to a hot meal every single day. dishes washed, clean clothes, fresh linen, not a speck of dirt in the entire house EVER. he owns me and i do what he says because i am his property. if he cheats it’s my fault and i’m doing something wrong.

[sherpawhale]

i made waluigi in dragon's dogma 2. needed more mustache options

[moonchild-in-blue]

Oh mother, tell your children Not to do what I have done Spend your lives in sin and misery In the house of The Rising Sun

[papa-evershed]

Robert James-Collier as Saul Silva FATE: THE WINX SAGA

[prosebushpatch]

Okay so I recently, finally, watched Wish and I have some thoughts. Overall, not as bad as everyone makes it out to be, but still has a lot of fundamental story problems and I've got to get them off of my chest. I'll mostly be focused on Magnifico because I think his motivations and arc largely represent the problem with the overall theme.

Okay so my biggest problem with Magnifico is his motivation. His tragic backstory. How on earth does he go from losing his whole family to thinking, the only way he can prevent that from happening again is to grant wishes? The logic doesn't track. It almost makes sense in his creating a kingdom where he protects everyone and "doesn't even charge rent," but it does not make sense with his wish granting. Having a great need to be control to make sure he doesn't lose anyone ever again can be a compelling motivation for a villain, where we see lines crossed that don't justify the intent, but in the movie, he's too self-absorbed to seem to have any actual care for the people of Rosas.

I think if the motivation was changed to something like Magnifico had once been a bright-eyed, enthusiastic wish granter who blindly believed all wishes were good but learned the hard way that that wasn't true could have been a better fit for the overall goal of the movie. Imagine that he granted a wish for a wicked person who used that wish to hurt others, or if Magnifico granted a wish but that wish ended up ruining the person's life because what they wanted wasn't what they needed (i.e. Remember The Princess and the Frog? Dig a little deeper) and that person could have went after Magnifico and blamed him for their troubles (harkening back to We Don't Talk about Bruno). This would be an understandable tragic backstory for Magnifico, and better explain why he's so careful about the wishes he grants. And, perhaps the reason he keeps the wishes he doesn't want to grant is to keep the people in his kingdom docile. No one will be angry with him for not granting their wishes if he makes them forget them and lose that drive and motivation, which makes more sense than the unexplained hording them like he does in the movie? Why does he keep them in the movie other than admiring the wishes? It doesn't make sense to me.

This would give Asha more of a reason to oppose him, if it's shown how his desire to not get hurt or to inadvertently cause hurt turned into a paranoia where he drains people of wishes to fly or play music that inspires others. And, as a side note, we need to see more of how Rosas is a kingdom of people who lack drive and motivation, where only those younger than 18 have that special part of them that inspires them to chase after a dream (something that Astor Rhymemaster touched on). Because that's the point of wishes, right? That's the point of the entire Disney canon. A dream is a wish your heart makes. That star can only get you so far, it takes hard work and determination. It's wanting something better in life, it's dreaming of leaving behind all you know to chase after a tangible light. It's finding a new dream, it's finding a new wish as you grow and learn about yourself and the world.

I don't think the movie Wish understood what makes wishes so important in Disney stories. You know what wishes do? They ignite change. It's not about getting what you want, it's about finding the courage to chase after something better. Ariel wants to be where the people are, but really she wants to be somewhere where others are willing to understand her and in the end, she finds that and makes amends with her father, who finally is willing to see her for who she is. Rapunzel wants to see the lights, and that desire pushes her to leave a tower she's been trapped in her whole life, learning that the world is not as cruel and cold as her abusive mother told her. Cinderella wants to go to the ball, to dance with people who treat her as a person and not a servant of cinders and ash. That wish is granted by a fairy godmother and gives her a hope that is worth fighting for, a hope that helps her reclaim what is rightfully hers; a glass slipper that fits only her and the love that comes with it.

Wishes inspire change. The movie should have been about that. Magnifico could have been right, that some wishes inspire negative change that can drag down multiple people. The kingdom of Rosas could have been so placid because change is scary. Maybe Magnifico could have convinced people, after taking their wish, that it wasn't worth it. Maybe the wish ceremonies could have changed so it wasn't portrayed as some sort of lottery everyone looks forward to, but Magnifico would grant wishes on the spot if he decided they were good and worthwhile, and he would lock away the wishes that would cause trouble and tribulations. 18 year olds could be enthusiastic to give him their wishes, thinking they were surely good and worth granting, only to forget their wish and be told that their wish would have only brought about their unhappiness, this would have justified a more solemn tone in the kingdom, setting up a world where people are mostly downtrodden, thinking their wishes are bad and pointless and they're better off without them. Imagine Cinderella or Rapunzel being told their wishes weren't good, reinforcing all the things their abusive families tell them, taking away that hope and courage to find something better for themselves.

Here's where the true conflict could come in. Asha could be onto this from the beginning, and her opening song could have been about this concern that the people who didn't get their wishes granted aren't willing to try at all. (Because, after all, why doesn't Sabino play music at all? Having that taken from him would take so much joy and creative expression from his life!) But why does Asha know something is amiss?

Simon.

Imagine that Magnifico has a strict rule not to ever share your wish with another person because then it wouldn't come true. It makes sense with our own superstitions, and then makes it so that no one knows anyone else's wishes. Maybe your best friend changes so drastically after giving up their wish, but you believe, like everyone else, that their wish would have only caused suffering. What can you do about it? Well what if Simon told Asha about his wish? What if Asha knew his wish wasn't dangerous and couldn't imagine a way that it could go wrong? That would give her a reason to doubt Magnifico and put more emphasis on how Simon has lost his drive like all the other adults in the kingdom. And it can also emphasize in the end that sharing your wishes and dreams with others can be a powerful thing. Just the act of sharing your dreams can inspire others to go after their own, and they can give you the encouragement to chase your wish too. Wishes inspire change, love gives you the courage to make it happen.

Imagine if the star boy used to be a human, who wished to help others and lost his humanity to do it. Imagine his wish confirms Magnifico's belief, that wishes cause suffering because star boy lost his tether to earth and is separated from the people he loves. Imagine how he foils Asha who also wants to grant everyone's wishes. Imagine him ensuring she doesn't make the same mistake he did while she gives him a reason to change again, to anchor himself to humanity again because he loves her enough not to leave for forever.

Imagine the movie confirming that, yes, change is scary. Chasing your dreams won't always make things better. You might fail more than you succeed and some wishes cannot coincide with each other, leading to grief and strife. But some wishes are worth it. Sometimes, chasing after something better and failing is worth leaving a worse situation. Sometimes taking that chance is worth it, and, like in all fairy tales, if you are kind and generous and act with love, that will make all the difference in the end.

Also, I know everyone wished for a Magnifico and Amaya evil power couple, but imagine if Magnifico was truly in love with Amaya, as he is in the movie, but that love is eventually his undoing. Like Amaya leaps in front of Asha, and Magnifico stops or redirects his attack because she's the one thing he loves more than himself and that is the weakness that Asha and co can take advantage of. Imagine Amaya keeping Magnifico in the mirror and he gets to dote on her from his imprisonment for forever. I'm just saying. At least 30 sickos like me would be into that. Imagine the depth it would give to the themes of love and change and wishing and how acts of love make all the difference.

Alright, I'll get off my soap box. I just really wish Wish could have been stronger because these fairy tales Disney is famous for matter. They really do. But the movie feels too stale and shallow and too much of a cash grab that knows the outline of a disney musical, but is unable to understand the heart of why they work.

[vampiredrooling]

Me!

[urbanadventureleague]

On drop bars, "serious" bikes, and possible changes to the Bantam

By Crystal Springs Creek in Westmoreland Park, 4 August 2023. Olympus XA/Lomochrome Metropolis Over the eight years of owning the Bantam, I’ve only had one type of bar: drop bars of the “dirt drop” variety. I’ve had two different versions, first Origin 8 “Gary” bars, which got switched a few years later, though I forget exactly what I switched to. (Nitto? Soma?) I wanted to try out a different…

[did-i-do-this-write]

Oh god I've made a horrible mistake

[windupaidoneus]

i love body hair but i dont fuck with how it conflicts with scales on au ra so i guess hilde will have to be mostly hairless. much to my dismay.

[neongenesisfartgelion]

yes, thanks for asking, I do feel like a girl! I am a pretty little princess haha. I also feel like every single gender that exists in the universe.

[msclaritea]

She might have to, if Josh doesn't stop looking at Men's Calendars!

[okcoolthanks]

OH MY GOD ALPHONSE IN PD REAL?????

[erb23]

It's such a small thing, but DC Dark Legion giving not demonizing Talia in Damian's unlockable character bio is so good.

We're actually healing, thank goodness.

[demareth]

love how the skarsgard brothers have managed to stake out complete opposite sides of my "Super fuckable vampire" to "the Least fuckable vampire ive ever seen in my life and im a hardcore monsterfucker" scale

[awhitewomansinstagram]

Yesss I’m like on the very edge of older gen z (2003) and I remember growing up with like, the leapfrog thing for kids and the original Wii as the big “gaming” systems lollll, I think when I finally got a laptop (probably when I was 11 or 12?) one of the first games I got was zoo tycoon and I was so excited because it was the expansion pack version.

I was around for the Disney channel era of good luck Charlie, Jessie, and Austin and Ally (Jessie ftw), I remember thinking it was so cool that my mom got the iPhone 3 or 4, and when my sister got a DS it was a HUGE deal. My first phone was a tiny little bar phone that I got when I was maybe 11 and then I got a super cheap Samsung at 13 and thought it was so cool because I could play candy crush—no modern social media until I was like 17 or something (I had Facebook i guess, but I don’t think that “counts” as modern anymore)

I was around for toys-r-us before the weird rebrand thing that happened and when the top gift idea for kids was a ripstick or the electric razor scooter. I had zhu zhu pets, a bunch of Webkinz, and an animal jam account on god knows what computer maybe an old shared desktop my family had. Computers still had DVD holders. I knew how to play vhs cassettes and we went to blockbuster (fly high sweet angel) and Redbox or we mail ordered Netflix cds (and a lot of them you had to wait if someone else had the copy) because they werent even a streaming service yet

My middle school was the whole mustache and bacon duct tape craze… still never going to understand how we all somehow fell into that mass psychosis. Sephora barely existed in my consciousness. I saw the last hobbit movie in theaters. The nook tablet at Barnes and noble was “high tech” to me

I survived the cold shoulder shirt phase. My first “concert” was panic at the disco at a festival and I don’t even think pray for the wicked had come out yet

Also I’m apparently in that group of American kids that are like, the last to actually know how to write cursive which is insane to me!!!

By birth year I’m solidly in Gen Z and possibly older Gen z but I feel like I wasn’t raised with a lot of exposure to modern tech other than like, early 2000s Nintendo and like two computer games and Microsoft word. I know it’s more than the very start of Gen z but damn, whenever I meet kids that are born past 2008 I’m like “yeah no I’m going with the millennials”

Anyway u guys wanna trade silly bandz

Millennials this, Gen Z that. But where is my fellow Zillennials at? Those of us who at the start of our lives didn't have cell phones. We had house phones. Well our parents may have had a cell phone but it was the Nokia phone that had the snake game. Those of us who actually had to go outside and play because we didn't have ipads. Those of us who may or may not have had a computer but it was a family computer, one the whole family shared. Those of us who started to learn what an atlas was because teachers thought we'd need to use them but never actually needed to use one. Those of us who learned what an encyclopedias was and actually used them up until late middle school when we finally got to google stuff. Where are you?