#road trip results

[edsonjnovaes]

Verdades inconvenientes sobre carros elétricos

Verdades inconvenientes sobre carros elétricos – Atila Iamarino. 28 mar 2024 Quais os motivos que te levariam a comprar um carro híbrido ou elétrico? Economia de combustível? Menor taxa de emissão de carbono no meio ambiente? É difícil de encontrar um veículo híbrido ou inteiramente elétrico que vá atender todas as expectativas, uma vez que enquadramos nessa categoria de automóveis veículos com…

[sourapplesauces]

the question is:

[ardentpoop]

[spunknbite]

Yes but have you considered —

Aziraphale can draw; we see that nice little sketch he did of Gabriel.

So Crowley swings by the bookshop after the divorce to fetch some plants. Day drunk, lovelorn, cursing God kind of Crowley, and he talks his way past Muriel, slurring (a human bookshop attendant would definitely allow me in, and book shops always give away their plants to non-paying customers, you would know that, wouldn’t you inspector constable?).

As he’s dragging a century-old snake plant past Aziraphale’s desk, he spots it: a sketch pad, half obscured by a pile of Austens. But he can’t help but notice because, well, that’s him staring up from the pages. A profile shot, rendered in graphite by a careful hand. He’s smiling in it, the sort of candid smile that’s never captured by a knowing subject, too loose, too unaffectedly easy.

But it’s certainly him. And now Crowley’s unceremoniously dropped the plant and about to flip through the book when that decidedly un-demonic feeling of guilt creeps in. Should he? Dare he? It is Aziraphale’s after all; there was no invitation. But I forgive you lurks throughout every corner of the shop, and with a fuck it, Crowley’s opened the book.

He looks up out of the sketch pad with a raised eyebrow, questioning, quizzical, but altogether more charming that he deserves. In another, he leans against a bookshelf, head back. A closeup of only his hands, splayed over the wheel of the Bentley. Another one of him laughing, and another, and another. Then, wearing a suit he hasn’t owned in well over a century, one he recalls Aziraphale saying he looked smart in. Next, his eyes closed as if sleeping, face relaxed and serene — and it’s uncanny because he’s never seen himself look like that before, never witnessed what Aziraphale saw.

And finally, a picture where his eyes aren’t his own. Full, rounded pupils appraise him, curled locks of hair frame his face, and the shading of the wings in the background — unfinished but completed enough that the effect is apparent — his wings are white.

Like the old times, Aziraphale had said. He doesn’t remember the old times, not really.

The sketch pad is dropped on the desk, and Crowley leaves the shop without his plants.

[fancysasquatch]

My old HRT prescription finally ran out last week, and I'm still wait-listed by all the clinics in the area, so I was scrambling to find somewhere to get a stop-gap prescription. Planned Parenthoods are usually quick (I was picking up my first prescription within 90 minutes of walking in the door) but none of the ones near me offer in-office trans healthcare, and all the online appointments are booked out the next few weeks. Getting anything shipped from online prescription/pharmacy sites takes too long. I ended up deciding to just find the closest Planned Parenthood with open slots for in-person appointments. It wound up being the El Paso clinic.

The irony of having to go to Texas for transgender healthcare was not lost on me.

[tyanis]

Which FIVE Resident Evil characters are surviving a cross country road trip? WINNERS!

Any ties were broken in my usual way.

Anyway, with the argument reaching a fever pitch, Alcina takes a swing at Heisenberg, just missing him with her long claws. She also just missed hitting Ada and Hunk, who only have their heads still because Ada was lounging pretty low to play on her phone and Hunk was still asleep.

Realizing that this situation is probably only going to get worse, Ada turns and makes eye contact with Claire before motioning into the nearby woods. Claire nods and slips away from Carlos and Leon's grasp and grabs a still yelling Mia, flinging the two of them out of the van and into a (hopefully) soft bush. Ada then fires off a grapple hook into a nearby tree and quickly exists the situation.

Leon and Carlos remain huddled together with Carlos quietly wishing they'd just stayed home and played Charades or something.

With her friends' sudden exists, Jill finally breaks her death glare from Wesker and demands that The Merchant stop and pick them back up. Wesker then mocks her for being soft and "having friends" and starts going off on a villainous monologue.

Jill then punches him in the face, cutting the monologue short.

Before he could retaliate, Jill hops off the back of the roofless van and hurries to go collect her friends.

Wesker stands there, the awkwardness of the situation halting the fight between Alcina and Heisenberg. He tries to collect himself and climbs over the seats to the front of the van, taking his spot in the passenger seat. They all sit in silence for a beat before Wesker reaches over and turns the radio on.

Heisenberg then switches the radio back off. Just to be a dick.

The awkward silence returns and Hunk finally wakes from his nap and looks around, shrugs, and goes back to sleep.

Anyway, they leave Heisenberg at the next rest stop because he took too damn long in the bathroom.

They eventually reach their destination, linger for a solid eight minutes and then pile back into the once again destroyed van and head home, picking up a few of the gang along the way.

[cordiallyfuturedwight]

and now May is over!!!! time for the monthly check in, besties (thanks @bluemingdream for the reminder 💘)

happy summer y’all! tagging the music besties: @raplinenthusiasts @cosmicdreamgrl @senor-hoberto @thornedswan @thatredwine @clutterbugs @summerwave @permanentreverie @captainassmerica

[slutforsidewalks]

I don't care about the long-term negative effects of chronic stress, I care about the short term one of all my dreams being horrendous and bad and full of situations that I can't win

[abandonedsdjfhcvndfbv]

Worst thing about lategame maebea writing. The sisterzoning

[skrunksthatwunk]

thoughts i forgot to add to the penis music poll bc you can't edit poll tags:

[krispyswips]

What a Catch

Summary: There is something about the night sky that gives Lightning something to say to Mater.

I never said this was an exclusively Star Wars blog.

There were times that Lightning enjoyed taking time to slow down and there were times where the world would screech to a halt. These times were now under a glittering litany of stars, him and Mater illuminated by the firelight.

McQueen had to admit that the way to describe Mater was...disarming. He had a way about him that would drag a hearty chuckle from him like he were the world's best fisherman.

Then his smile, that Lightning couldn't help but smile along with him. That's how he made him feel: light, airy, better than any adrenaline high after a race. And now with Mater's gaze locked on him, smiling with that 100% genuine charm, Lightning felt breathless here too.

It was like the tow truck had strung him up by his hitch, and Lightning was hook, line, and sinker. His heart sunk from that airy feeling to something more yearning. He wanted nothing more than to lean over and kiss him.

A part of him though gave pause. Mater said something that he didn't register and Lightning's lip twitched into a hesitant smile.

"Nice night," Mater drawled, "Clear one too."

"Y-yeah." Lightning meekly replied.

Mater looked down at the fire for a moment and he drew up his lips into a pensive thought before he glanced back to Lightning.

"Hey, Lightnin', can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Mater, what is it?"

The tow truck squirmed and then all at once he opened his mouth. "Lightnin', I'd sure like to kiss you."

Disarming was how he would put it. Mater was good at that dragging all his layers down with that southern genuity. He supposed it was something about the stars, the warm drink on his lips, the fire between them, but the world screeched to a sudden halt.

In one breathless moment, Lightning crossed the space between them and he felt Mater smile against his lips.

[concise-cyan]

Put a 😃 by the states you have visited. Sitting in airport doesn't count. Put 💙 where you have lived. Alabama Alaska Arizona 🙂 Arkansas California 🙂 Colorado 🙂 Connecticut 🙂 Delaware 🙂 Florida 💙 Georgia 🙂 Hawaii 🙂 Idaho 💙 Illinois 💙 Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana 🙂 Maine 🙂 Maryland 💙 Massachusetts 💙 Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana 🙂 Nebraska Nevada🙂 New Hampshire 🙂 New Jersey 🙂 New Mexico 🙂 New York 🙂 North Carolina 🙂 North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon🙂 Pennsylvania 💙 Rhode Island 🙂 South Carolina 🙂 South Dakota Tennessee Texas 💙 Utah 🙂 Vermont 🙂 Virginia 🙂 Washington 💙 Washington DC 🙂 West Virginia 🙂 Wisconsin Wyoming 🙂 Just copy and paste to your status, make the changes & play…

[heathfall]

Can I have hydrangea and laurel?

This has been sitting in my drafts for a few days hekdsfaj

Hydrangea: Who is your favorite villain?

Honestly, I'm a bit torn on this because my favorite "antagonistic" events in Warriors are usually not the result of a bad guy but as a result of their culture. I guess, on that note, probably Tigerstar I? Bit cliche, but he's a pretty shining example on how that culture could produce villainry.

Thistleclaw, maybe? I liked him better pre-Spottedleaf's Heart though.

Laurel: If you could write the books, what changes would you make?

God. So many changes I don't even know where to start. I suppose my one big one would be making the Clans operate a LOT more like family units. There's like, max 25 kitties per Clan at any given time, and they spend large parts of the day together. There is NO WAY a cat should be a stranger to anyone else post early apprenticehood unless you're actively avoiding each other.

Also, they're all actually related. Not a ton of ways to avoid that and I don't have the willpower to untangle the trees, so they best be acting like "close family who lives together".

[dinolich]

Beetlejuice AU in which he and Lydia are forced to make a deal resulting in a cross-Netherworld road trip, torturing each other the entire way

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I promised you some lions! Let's talk about manes, males, and management.

This is Tandie, the current male lion at the Woodland Park Zoo.

Notice anything odd about him? He's got one of those hilarious awkward teenager manes. Except... this cat is nine years old.

I was, of course, immediately curious.

Manes serve a lot of purposes for male lions, including being an indicator of health and fitness - it's actually a sexually selected trait and a social signal. Mane texture / hair quality / length is dependent on nutrition and the body having energy to grow (and carry around!) that much hair! The color is also a signal: males with darker manes have been found to have higher testosterone levels.

In one research report, wild males were much more likely to avoid a lion decoy when it had a longer or darker mane - but the girls really loved a dark mane. It's thought this is because a long, dark mane is an indicator of mate quality. Males with longer, darker manes have higher testosterone and were pretty healthy: meaning they had more energy for fighting, had a better chance of recovering if they got injured, and generally had a higher rate of offspring survival. Manes matter!

So, back to Tandie. He was actually born at the Woodland Park Zoo in 2014 alongside two brothers, to dad Xerxes and mother Adia.

This was Xerxes (rip).

Obviously, a very large, dark, lush mane on Xerxes here. So where did these blond muttonchops come from on his son?

I asked the zoo docents and got an answer that didn't make a lot of sense. They told me that after the three cubs grew into adolescents, they were moved to the Oakland Zoo together. But living together suppressed his testosterone, and he never grew a mane.

Hmmmm.

Here's a photo from 2016, when the brothers debuted at Oakland. They're a year and a half old in this photo.

(Photo Credit: Oakland Zoo)

And here's from an announcement for their third birthday.

(Photo credit: Oakland Zoo)

Okay, so these dudes obviously all were growing manes as of 2017. I think Tandie is the one on the left in the first photo, and laying down in the middle on the second. What happened?

I was just in the Bay Area for a zoo road trip, of course I went to Oakland and tracked down a docent to ask some questions.

It turns out that shortly after the brothers turned three, they started acting like adult male lions: they started scuffling regularly. It's a normal social thing for male lions to live in groups, called coalitions, but according to my lion experts there's generally a baseline level of some social jostling within them. It wasn't quite clear from what the docent said if they couldn't manage the boys together, or if they just wanted to avoid the scratches and small wounds that result from normal lion behavior. Regardless, they put all three of the boys on testosterone blockers in order to be able to keep them together as a social group.

Now, I don't know a lot about the use of hormone alteration as a form of captive animal management, except in the case of birth control. I don't think it's something that's unethical - there was just a webinar on it that I saw go by - but I don't think it's commonly done with big cats. Lions have kind of complicated reproductive cycles, and for instance, we've been learning that female lions can take much longer to come into estrus again than expected after coming off hormonal birth control.

In males, testosterone blockers (or being neutered) means they lose their manes. This is why a lot of rescues will do a vasectomy on their males instead of a neuter - it allows them to keep their mane and the social signals that accompany it.

Tandie returned home to Woodland Park Zoo after Xerxes passed in early 2022, and the docent told me all of the lions had been off their blockers "for while." I'd guess those things happened around the same time, since bringing the trio down to a duo at Oakland would reduce some of the social tensions.

Hormones are such interesting things, though. One of Tandie's brothers has a full mane again, and the other is still totally mane-less.

As for Tandie, his mane is growing back in, and it looks like he might rival his dad for length and coloration.

He started here, in February:

Yesterday:

What a difference four months (and maybe proximity to a girl) makes!

[busylilbee]

The Vibe of my life at the moment is my best friend and I discussing going on a 40+ drive through largely remote grizzly territory where we would be sleeping in our car with all of our food and shit and being like "if the car gets attacked by a bear in the night and we have to scramble to the front to make a get-away half asleep at least it will be a funny story"