#read wrong whoops

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Daily fish fact #458

Hoodwinker sunfish!

This species was only found very recently, as it was mistaken for other ocean sunfishes! Its scientific name, Mola tecta, references that, as "tecta" comes from the Latin word "tectus" which means hidden or disguised. However, it is distinguishable from other species as it is slimmer and lacks a lot of the "lumpiness" some of the other species have.

[noxious-fennec]

3 years and I'm STILL IN THE FUCKING BUILDING... unbelievable... anyway happy re-bday to my pathetic cringefail politician

Alt ver. under the cut

***Massive disclaimer: i do not support the cc this is strictly about the fictional character

[athena-xox]

Shhh shhh I’m definitely not saying anything *whispers in your ear* but I keep seeing “‘we need more complex female characters’ but they couldn’t handle Apple White.”

But like …

That applies more to Apple fans than those who dislike her

Because while yes there are Apple haters who completely overlook the complexity of her character but more often than not it’s those who like her that in trying to defend her take away the complexity of her character.

Like some people can’t stand the complexity of her character so they water her down

hmm HMM

Idk like excusing apples actions is VERY different from explaining them

[deoidesign]

IF YOURE LOST YOU CAN LOOK AND YOU WILL FIND ME

TIME AFTER TIME

IF YOU FALL I WILL CATCH YOU ILL BE WAITING

TIME AFTER TIME

[etirabys]

if AI completely "obsoleted" writing/painting I'd

paint about as much as I do now – how well other entities paint compared to me has <3% bearing on my own internal drive to paint

write almost not at all – my drive to write is >90% driven by the dearth of other entities who are writing what I want to read

[lavender-teardroplettes]

Dear friends❤️🇵🇸

From me and my family, all thanks and appreciation for your continuous support to me and my family, whether by participating or donating🇵🇸🤍🙏🇵🇸

I hope you will continue to do so, each one according to his ability, until I reach my short goal of 28.5k€, as there is less than 500€ left to reach it 🇵🇸🤍🙏🇵🇸

Link here! They’ve almost reached the goal of 28.5k and have raised it just a bit to 35k€!

[squidlawyer]

genuinely what is Mattels obsession with breaking up G1 couples like what is the reason,,, I'm so confused by it all cause it's not like they're really doing anything interesting with any of the characters or new love interests rn to make up for all the break-ups of relationships fans liked so it kinda feels pointless

[aphelea]

first time we see alvar he chugs a glass of wine in a sip, talks about his 3 girlfriends and proceeds to call known facts a hoax. truly what a guy

[nerissalmao]

Ernesto De La Cruz: Tragic Hero (..in his own mind)

Well, at the time of posting this, it’s November 12th. That’s around Day of the Dead season, I think, though I’m as white as the snowflake that is my profile picture (I do enjoy learning more about other cultures though, so I’m glad to get educated and learn more) so you know what? We’re gonna talk about Coco. Yep, hands-down one of the best Pixar movies ever made, THAT Coco. Yes, I know there are arguments about it and Book of Life and which one is better, but I’m not here to talk about any of that.

Time to talk about this ABSOLUTE RAT.

Oohhh, look at him and his big stupid hat and his big stupid bow and his big stupid ribcage. He’s a fraud and a liar and an idiot and he kills people to take their songs.. AND take credit for them! Oooohh he’s stupid. I wanna punch him. You wanna punch him. Let’s all punch him! He’s a murderer, a liar, a traitor, he’s—

Not that bad?

WAIT. What?

Well, okay, see. This might be a little hard to grasp on to, but Ernesto De La Cruz is NOT THAT BAD.

To himself at least. Because to himself, his intentions are noble. He genuinely doesn’t see what he’s doing wrong.. because he’s always thought that this is how fame works. You have to make sacrifices. Then you get famous.

Let me explain.

See, when most people talk about this character, they bring up how terrible it was that he acted so nice and sympathetic, how dastardly in disguise it was for him to act like a nice person. People claim it’s all fake— he never cared for Miguel, he never cared for Héctor, he’s a psychopath, plain and simple.

But.. he’s not.

Look at him. It’s the stupid Hans thing all over again— his face. He genuinely seems proud of Miguel, of the idea he has a great-great-grandson. He shows him off to all his fancy rich friends, lets Miguel monologue about himself, excitedly shows Miguel around, even offer the kid advice. And he genuinely means it.

Of course, the reason people say he doesn’t is because for one, he LITERALLY murdered Héctor. Which, yeah, that sucks, so let’s talk about that first.

As we all know, Ernesto and Héctor were once best friends, two boys chasing the dream of becoming a musician. But Ernesto wanted to play for the world and bask in their adoration. Why? Because he just woke up and decided he deserved it? No, actually. He’s not exactly a textbook narcissist. Yes, he has narcissistic qualities, but there is plainly no evidence to suggest his friendship with Héctor was toxic. If it was, Héctor would have been less shocked to know that Ernesto poisoned him— because if Ernesto was shitty enough to bully and berate his own best friend, then aggravated assault and murder wouldn’t be too shocking for an already manipulative psycho. Yet Héctor genuinely was shocked anyway. And since Héctor’s a bit of a pessimist, it doesn’t seem like him to overestimate his ex-amigo.

(Yes, I know Héctor probably just didn’t want to believe that Ernesto was capable of murder either way. But come on. This man has had the entire afterlife to perfect his lying and his Dìa De Los Muertos Scheme. If Ernesto was that bad in the first place you mean to tell me a salty Héctor WOULDN’T consider the idea?! And he’s certainly a smart enough character to know when he’s being mistreated and when too far is too far, hence why he wants to return home to his family instead of abandoning them! And not to mention how he is totally unafraid of confronting Ernesto. I know that abuse and mistreatment comes in all shapes and sizes, but I don’t think this is the narrative we’re supposed to follow here.)

Ernesto genuinely valued Héctor. He isn’t a textbook narcissist because he recognizes the value and importance of Héctor’s ideas, and hoped to become famous with him by his side, as literally stated in Ernesto’s original plan. Look at the desperation on his face when he thinks Héctor is leaving:

He looks near tears. He’s practically BEGGING. And Héctor doesn’t even bother to give Ernesto any tips on songwriting or farewell wishes, he just kind of leaves. If anything, HÉCTOR is being the jerk here.

But honestly? We can hardly blame him. He was a caring father and a family man who just wanted to get back home. There’s hurt in his eyes, too.

Ernesto, on the other hand? He pushes the envelope too far. He kills Héctor for his songs. He already had poison on him for.. some reason, so what? Did he think he’d poison himself if he didn’t make it? Reputation and fame is very important to Ernesto. Yet it didn’t take him long to come up with the conclusion of killing his friend. Why? Is he really just that insane and am I talking in circles?

Nah. He tells Héctor, “I could never hate you” and it’s true! He doesn’t HATE Héctor. But he needs his songs. He’s been working so hard that in his mind, he just needs to take another step, to.. seize his moment.

He sees this as a necessary option. His reputation is important to him, and he doesn’t want the secret to get to light.. not the murder one. He just doesn’t want anyone to think he’s unoriginal, that he copied someone else’s ideas. Because he’s built his entire career around how talented he is. Because he’s the guy who “actually did it” and who wanted fame and fortune for.. what? Self-validation? He never seems to have any type of family to his name (despite the fact that his name is everywhere and everybody knows him), and even calls his audience his family, proclaiming the world is his family. Was he perhaps an orphan, or had parents who couldn’t care for him? Is that why he couldn’t understand why Héctor would leave for his family and gets desperate, than murderous? Because Ernesto himself never had a family to speak of or anyone to teach him values beyond his own musical dreams?

“Apologies, my friend, but the show must go on,” he says to Héctor, ready to kill Miguel— not out of any malice or hatred. Earlier in the film, good old Ern-DLC got the bombastic Disney Villain green motif all over his ass-

-as he proclaims that he knows deep down that Miguel, being his supposed family, should understand how Ernesto’s mind works. Since he knows that Ernesto sees the world as his family, since he heard Ernesto’s awkward “sì” when he was asked about whether it was hard for him to leave a hypothetical De La Cruz family that may or may not exist. He just throws Miguel into a pond (well.. he gets his security to do so) and there’s no evidence that he has no plan to get him out. He still thinks Miguel is his great-great-grandson. Yes, he put Héctor down there too, but he saw it as a necessary evil because he could do it before, and could do it again. Hurting Héctor just to reach his own fame.. and not seeing anything wrong with it. Seeing it as just another obstacle. Which is my whole point, that he saw nothing wrong with it, in case my rambling sidetracked you. Anyway, Héctor is being forgotten. Héctor could vanish down there, then Ernesto could go get the then-dead Miguel, get the kid to understand fully, and continue living his fame that he believes he earned while Miguel reaps in the rewards of having a famous great-great-grandfather and keeps mum about the whole Héctor thing.

People underestimate Ernesto. Look, fame is hard to achieve. Yes, Ernesto did steal Héctor’s songs, but he didn’t forge any documents. He got himself famous through interviews and acting, even if he had to steal some things along the way. He genuinely did work hard in any other regard, and of course he knows that one has to work hard to seize their moment. And though there’s no evidence to prove he ever hated Héctor, he had already worked so hard and wouldn’t fail. He tried to reason with him first, and his choice to poison him, though drastic, disgusting, and villainous, was what this admittedly tragic family-less man saw as the logical next step.

He literally says it in his villainous monologue: “I’ve worked too hard, Héctor!” “I am ERNESTO DE LA CRUZ!” (as he gets agitated at the idea that he’s a coward, as he’s already had to brave revenge plots against his own ex-best-friend, crazy fans, the pressure of fame, and his own twisted moral code) “I am the one who’s willing to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to seize my moment! Whatever.. it takes.” So, yeah. Listen to his monologue with this in mind. He thinks it’s the logical next step, he doesn’t see anything wrong with it— he’s willing to do whatever it takes. Maybe it even hurt him to take Héctor down. But he did it anyway, because in his warped mind, he thought it would be another GENUINELY HEROIC STEP to the fame he felt he deserved. He admits he worked too hard and seems to try to reason with Héctor again, though this time what he thinks is the right choice is obviously much worse; but by now Ernesto knows he has no family ties to Miguel. The show must go on, bruh man said it himself, and he wants his fame to continue.. because he WORKED SO HARD. He butchered his own friend to get where he is and won’t let anything stand in his way, or else what was that murder for? Then he’s just a psycho (to others; again Ernesto doesn’t really see anything wrong with it), a coward (he does NOT want to be called this, clearly), and everyone who always disbelieved in him is right.

Look at his face after the crowd realizes what he’s done:

Shock. Awe. Surprise. He genuinely doesn’t get it.

In Ernesto’s mind, warped by likely a family-less backstory, he thought that an inexcusable, regrettable action like killing his friend was made excusable since it would help him continue the journey to get the love and acceptance he wants and thinks he deserves. He did care about Miguel; he’s no blood-soaked killer. But he’s willing to do whatever it takes to seize his moment even so, because he thinks this’ll help him, even if he ends up regretting it later. He’s worked too hard.

It makes more sense for him to have been so morally flawed that he genuinely doesn’t get the consequences of his disgusting actions than for him to be so narcissistic that he thinks people would love him even after killing somebody. Because the movie Coco is so nuanced, Ernesto is purposefully tragic. He’s the next great Disney Villain, lying and conniving, but not reveling in the evil; like Claude Frollo before him, he thinks it’s a genuinely good thing to do on his path to stardom, that even though he genuinely cared about Héctor he couldn’t let him get in the way of his dream, and even though he genuinely cared for Miguel, knowing he’s truly not family will soften the blow of having to be rid of him in order to continue to reap the rewards of being famous without his dear reputation tarnished. Yet inevitably when it is, again like Claude Frollo, he doesn’t get it. Because he thinks he’s done good. He thinks this was just another path on his rite to stardom.

It’s why he just stands there wide-eyed instead of doing anything actually smart once he’s found out, or running away from the terrifying alibrije cat demon THING. Because he genuinely can’t understand why his so-called world-family would hate him. After all, they’ve always known he was a hard worker! And he doesn’t see why this news is any different.

Obviously I’m not condoning murder and attempted murder and the things Ernesto did. But this is my interpretation of the narrative and an interpretation that I think is worth reading through. The next time you hear “Remember Me”, the non-sad version, remember.. he’s either a tragic individual, so wrapped up in his own goal he doesn’t even know right-and-wrong from each other.. or an even scarier villain because of his inability to separate the two.

[myfairkatiecat]

Btw words having connotations is a thing. Like I’m not nitpicky for the sake of fighting. I’m looking at a collection of scenes, and then at a word, and going, welp! That’s a word that has been applied to many contexts im gonna casually not group these scenes with, thanks!

[honeylemoom]

What’s in my bag: Vince (left to right)

1. Bon Appétit magazines. Mikey is helping him test out new recipes.

2. Walkman. Not the greatest for running since the CD’s skip, but perfect for the bus ride home.

3. Dragon Ball Z CD case. Chad begged him to watch DBZ with him, and now they’re going to a con in the summer.

Bonus: His favourite CDs. Daft Punk for the workout and TCL for the cool down.

4. Sports tape. Always good to have on hand!

5. Protein bar. Not to eat, but for research. He’s tweaking a recipe of his own!

6. Old Spice deodorant. Just because he’s a jock, doesn’t mean he has to smell like one.

7. Mouth guard. Lawson’s pitch hasn’t gotten any better over the years, and he’s not taking any chances.

8. Baseball cards. Chad tried to get him into Pokémon, but Vince prefers the classics.

9. Shades. He kinda misses being King Bob’s bodyguard.

10. Water bottle. Gotta hydrate!

11. Bulla bread. For bulking up!

[sweaterkittensahoy]

Voting completed! Did not vote for the guy who promised to "ensure voting integrity" in his platform.

Dude. We have a vote by mail system. It works really fucking well. And that whole fuckumentary about supposed voter fraud was not only disproven before it even came out, the dudes had to pull it from all streaming services and issue an official apology after getting sued for and being found guilty of defamation.

"ensure voting integrity" is a fucking dogwhistle for "I kinda wish I was at the January 6th riot."

Also did not vote for anyone claiming AIPAC is a "foreign-interest interfering in US policy" (it's a group of Pro-Israeli AMERICAN citizens you fucking antisemites) or anyone who used the term "globalist" (just say Jews, Jack. This is exhausting.).

Shocking no one, the antisemitic language was used by green party candidates and one leftist independent.

Other people who did not get my vote: Guy who listed "listening to god's will" as a profession. Guy who listed "subjected to it" under previous government experience and anyone who tried to get clever with their platform statement. "I'm the most boring nerd in Oregon!" I am not here to vote on your personality, fucko. What is your goddamn platform.

Anyway, election day is November 5. Go read up on your candidates and various measures. I got a little thrill getting to vote to cut some useless language out of the state charter.

[wistfulwatcher]

"#(emily and meta are just synonymous tags these days sorry guys)"

Don't apologize! I, for one, *love* your tag metas on Emily! And gahh you're so right about Emily self-regulating and making things harder for herself. But also maybe liking the struggle too.

I don't think Emily was told 'no' but I can see how, in so many ways, Elizabeth Prentiss would have set up a bunch of rules that Emily *must* follow. Emily knows about High Society Rules. And, she can slip into those roles so seamlessly. She can be talking to other politicians and the next night she'd be putting on eyeliner and teasing her hair up to go to a concert that her mother would not approve of, and never know she went to.

hehe, thank you!!

Absolutely, I think Elizabeth was such a foundational piece of why Emily was such a successful spy. Her mother's political career, paired with her own natural (or nurtured, or a bit of both) inclination toward contradiction of anything thrown at her for the struggle of it all, really taught her to live in multiple worlds. And then, having to move around all the time leading to her desire to, and problems with, fitting in...no wonder Emily can become whoever she needs to become when it's required of her 🥺

[sciderman]

I’m envious that so much of your life is dedicated to creating Spideypool content. 70% of my Spideypool time is reading fics or obsessing over fanart; only about 30% of my Spideypool time is actually spent writing my fics. And I haven’t actually finished enough of one of them to post anything. One day I hope I can change that ratio and spend much more time blessing the Spideypool fandom the way you do with your abundance of written and visual Spideypool work.

"im envious that so much of your life is dedicated to creating spideypool content" are words i never expected to ever hear in my lifetime... wild and freaky of you i think, you craaazy...

it's a trade-off because i consume so very little of it... but my tastes are very... singular... i think in a post-mcu world, it's become a lot trickier for me to find spideypool content i can enjoy, so i kind of have to furiously create it - and kind of all my favourite spideypool creators from that beautiful pre-mcu era have moved onto different pastures... where'd they go... oh i miss them so...

i certainly used to read a WHOLE lot more spideypool pre-homecoming, but since the homecoming-imposed hiatus, i've found it difficult to trust again...

[pulpbeing]

OH MY GOD because the dominions are literally what i was thinking of 🤤 im a bit crafty with my imagination, so i just imagine heaven having a heavy bureaucratic system that relies on balance so heaven dont accidentally tilt on its axis or something.

imagine a lower angel being called into your office, thinking that they've messed up something along the way when they were performing their duty on earth, only to be rewarded with a pat on the head and some good job "reward" from you.

it kinda does work like a bureaucracy because certain angel types have certain tasks ^-^ dominions, for example, but there's also the thrones (the flaming, spinning wheels with eyes 👁️👁️👁️) who carry God's throne, and cherubim who actively guard it!

and they were always such an obedient little thing. you almost feel bad when they avoid looking you in the eye, wings tucked away shyly behind them as they walk through the doors only to see you in the form they adore most. almost. they deserve a reward, after all, their long hair twirled around your finger as tears make their eyes shine, adorable despite the lewd act happening in the Lord's heavens. you know that He knows. the sweet angels knows that He is watching all, but if He allows it, you suppose it's simply God's plan to have you reward the perfect little angel He blessed you with to have between your thighs <3

[bizrreparallax]

he is so relatable it is painful