#snapshot 76

[thevampiresoc]

IM FOAMING AT THE MOUF I HAVE TO GET OFF MY LAPTOP BUT OOOUG YOU CANT JUST SAY THIS SHIIIIIT /pos

[susililys]

MY SHIKATEMA FANFIC RECS MASTERLIST PART 3

Continuation of my ShikaTema Fanfic Masterlist, click here for Part 1 or Part 2 :

New Parents / Post Chapter 700 / BORUTO / Nara Family CONT.

Leave The World Behind by: SpicedGold ONESHOT Temari runs into Shikamaru while at the marketplace with baby Shikadai.

Home At Last by: orphan_account M | ONESHOT Married smut, Temari comes back home from Suna.

Newborn by: SpookyMoth ONESHOT Domestic, pregnancy fluff.

He's Only Ten But She Was Only Three by: drowninglinguists ONESHOT Shikamaru is on a mission and Shikadai helps Temari deal with PTSD.

Love and Pride by: silverkunai ONESHOT Father and son sweetness, Shikamaru talks with Shikadai after the Chuunin exam loss.

Father's Brains and Mother's Attitude by: Kimiz ONESHOT Give me Temari and Shikadai, mother son bonding fics anytime!

Raindrops by: SpicedGold ONESHOT Temari goes on her first mission now that Shikadai is old enough, but the Nara boys are taking it hard.

48 hours to live by: Majsasaurus COMPLETE Includes Temari's reaction to the Shikadai bomb situation.

History Lesson by: SpicedGold ONESHOT Mostly Shikadai and Temari talking about the past, Rasa and the Konoha Invasion.

Snapshots by: lisa29 ONESHOT Snapshots of Temari's pregnancy.

How Did We Get Here by: SpicedGold ONESHOT Temari muses on how she came to have a life that includes a loving husband and son.

Shikadai by: SuperAwesomePandaKitty ONESHOT Temari gets abducted while 8 months pregnant, sweet fic.

Tell Me It'll All Be Alright by: SpicedGold COMPLETE Shikamaru spirals as he deals with Temari getting severely injured on a mission.

Favourite Things by: Dunesya ONESHOT Temari gets asked what her favorite thing about Shikamaru is.

Wave of Affection by: Dunesya ONESHOT Temari reflects on life with her family.

The Night Off by: SpicedGold ONESHOT ShikaTema need a break, cue in babysitting uncles.

Waking Up To You by: SpicedGold ONESHOT

A New Perspective by: SpicedGold ONESHOT Shikadai gets to see Temari in action.

Rest, Relax, and Revolt by: SpicedGold COMPLETE One of the best fics I've ever read, where the Sand/Nara family go through a revolt in Suna.

Hachidaime by: ShrimpArmy M | ONESHOT Yessss, was waiting for ShikaTema fics with Hokage Shikamaru

New routines by: clumsydragon28 ONESHOT Mostly Temari and Shikadai mother son bonding, loved it!

First Steps by: KiaraShell ONESHOT Ok, but how cute is this?

Family Life by: Aspire2B ONESHOTS Cute family moments!

Life of the Naras by: shikamarubase ONESHOTS Awww I’ve gone through these so many times.

Obvious Reasons by: LettieB ONESHOT Shikadai asking the real questions.

A Warning by: Awnyaa ONESHOT Fluff, Temari equals deforestation.

Nothing by: thegizka ONESHOT Temari wants to do something for Shikamaru’s birthday, domestic fluff.

Nightfall by: SeaTempest M | ONESHOT Fluffy married smut.

RELATIONSHIP DRABBLES / DEVELOPMENT / ONESHOT COLLECTIONS

Falling Through the Clouds by: spiritedarray

Moments by: tiashew14

4,572 days later by: therewithasmile

Antics by: eternallove5225 Second chapter in this collection is definitely my favorite. .

Lazy Love by: existence555 Favorite chapters, 5, 7, 13, 24, 25, 28, 57, 68, 76

On… by: ArmchairAnthropologist

Days Gone By by: Adulson

A Troublesome Love by: spiritedarray

Not So Troublesome After All by: BrokenDreamz95

Everyone's Eyes by: TaintedMoonlight

Approximation by: lollipop-mania

They Are Good at Many Things by: lollipop-mania M

Troublesome Crybabies by: ichilover3

AU / CANON DIVERGENT

Shadows of a Nightmare Future by: Mr Gr33d COMPLETE This was such an interesting and good read. Time Travel AU where Shikamaru goes back in time to save Temari and Shikadai.

unattainable, irreplaceable, you by: teatin COMPLETE This is so insanely good, ShikaTema on opposite sides of a war, unresolved feelings.

The Day Bleeds by: pieceofmind22 COMPLETE I usually don't read fics with character death, but this one was really well done.

Salt by: Comatosejoy INCOMPLETE Temari has to go in hiding due to Rasa giving her hand away in marriage, just one chapter shy of being completed.

The Rules by: lafolleconnasse M l COMPLETE This one gives me some intense feels, so well written!

The Desert and the Deer by: nahra M l COMPLETE Death God Shikamaru, someone commented that this could be an award winning movie and honestly…facts!

Trial of the Heart by: Majsasaurus M l COMPLETE Really intense, dark, and well written. Took me some time to finish reading it cause our beloved family goes through some extremely rough times. Jinchuuriki Shikadai. Happy Ending.

Grandmaster by: notquitejiraiya (lethargicshadowlover) INCOMPLETE I usually don't like to read alternate universe fics for ShikaTema, but I’ve been enjoying this one.

Warriors Heart (A Prequel to Fated) by: CeeCeeK COMPLETE ShikaTema as samurais.

What it Takes to Make her Smile by: TaintedMoonlight COMPLETE This used to be one of my favorite fics growing up. Fairy AU.

Of Sand and Shadow by: CinderRoses M | COMPLETE Shikamaru and Temari meet in completely different circumstances when he's abducted by Suna Anbu. Really enjoyed this!

Book One- The Enemy by: SillySnowden11 M | COMPLETE This is such a good read! The villages are at war with one another and commanders ST end up having a tentative alliance. Slow burn romance.

New Blood by: JFalcon COMPLETE Very long multi-chapter fic that includes many other characters, but it has ShikaTema as the main relationship throughout and is very well written.

This took me so long to make, but honestly I've always wanted to have a list of all my favorite ShikaTema fics all in one place. Hope this makes it easier to enjoy all of these amazing works! Thank you to all the writers who have made my days better throughout the years!

[xiaoshengnu]

𝕰𝖒𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖘𝖘𝖊𝖘 𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕻𝖆𝖑𝖆𝖈𝖊 - final review

overview : episode no - 76 episodes, genre - historical (gongdou)

a timeless classic, the slay to end all slays (and I mean literally and figuratively) empresses in the palace follows the story of zhen huan as she experiences life in the palace, hardening her from a sweet young girl to a stony empress dowager. 

l⃣e⃣ t⃣’ s⃣    b⃣e⃣g⃣i⃣n⃣

when I say you will never find a more iconic show ever in the whole of cdramaland, I mean never. empresses in the palace is an absolute juggernaut of a drama, it is absolutely insane, the writing, the drama, the characters, the absolute minute little details and its respect of the viewer’s intelligence- an A* and beyond. and it's internet and cultural presence in china? IN. SANE. 

o⃣u⃣t⃣     o⃣ f⃣     t⃣ e⃣ n⃣

𝖕𝖑𝖔𝖙 - 9/10

𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌 - 10/10

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖘 - 10/10

𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖉𝖚𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 - 10/10

𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕘𝕖 - 9.8

o⃣u⃣t⃣    o⃣ f⃣    f⃣ i⃣v⃣ e⃣

𝖍𝖎𝖉𝖉𝖊𝖓 𝖌𝖊𝖒 𝖛𝖆𝖑𝖚𝖊 - 💎💎💎💎💎

[ I know that when the drama first came out, it was considered pretty unique for how brutally it presented harem life, but even years later and amongst so many newer dramas which have borrowed tropes and ideas from it, I don’t think you’ll be able to find such an incredibly solid drama. a five gem.  ]

𝖗𝖊𝖜𝖆𝖙𝖈𝖍 𝖛𝖆𝖑𝖚𝖊 - ✨✨✨✨✨

[ it is so incredibly long and a pretty emotionally tolling drama - even longer than legend of haolan but it is just incredible, a full five star rewatch value ]

‘keep reading’ for detailed review

oh my god this drama.

oh my god.

where do I even begin? I remember watching my parents watch this drama when was I was still really young so I didn’t know what the show was called and what it was about, and although I didn’t remember the whole of this drama I could still remember some hazy snapshots pretty iconic scenes- like at the end where she does to sleep, or when she gets sent to the island- so when I finally decided to watch empresses in the palace a light bulb went off and I suddenly realised that THIS was the show that I'd remembered from my childhood. THIS was it. so it is quite nostalgic for me. 

it is honestly such a timeless classic, there’s nothing that will ever beat it. nothing. every fucking second of this thing has a purpose, and everything the characters say and do- and even the background of scenes have minute details which relate to the overall plot and trajectory of these characters. like the amount of YouTube videos analysing this one drama is insane. when critics praise a piece of visual art as a “living breathing organism”, “a masterpiece”- they mean this. 

𝖕𝖑𝖔𝖙 - 9

just. amazing. what can I say. there’s absolutely nothing that can beat this drama with how it wrote the plotting, the intrigue and the absolute cunning the women had to possess to stay alive in the palace. the ending of the drama is literally perfect. SO perfect. younger me thought legend of haolan was good- but compared to this? this is really truly another level. there’s so many instances in the drama where the drama never really tells you what exactly happened, but at the same time gives you just enough information to just guess what had gone on. equally, there are some times where there really doesn’t appear to be any scheming but with close analysis (and with the help of trusty youtubers) suddenly things become thrown into light. 

however, I had to knock down a few points because every plot has flaws and for this drama, I think it was mostly the use of tropes and the ‘female lead syndrome’ that sometimes quite clearly shows in the drama. There are also some areas in the drama where the plot does get shaky, but there is never not a reason why a scene is included in the drama. its just such a watertight drama. if you ever need to learn the art of show but don’t tell, this drama has it all. I love that sometimes it leaves it up to the viewer to work the plot out, which mirrors the way in which the concubines had to guess and predict in order to survive- which wasn’t always for certain or always accurate, almost literally pulling the viewer into the world of harem life.

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖘 - 10

I LOVE THE CHARACTERS UGH. I love them. they’re slays to end all slays. from zhen huan (the original girl boss, gatekeep, gaslight- FIGHT ME) to su peisheng- honestly so iconic. every single major character was well written, well developed and multi-dimensional, and no-one was evil purely for the sake of earning the drama cash. everyone in the drama gives you a reason to root for them, I found myself even feeling for the emperor in the end. 

𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖉𝖚𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 - 10

the production was beautiful- the lighting, costuming and makeup were literally so perfect it's unreal. so many iconic scenes came out of this drama- like the yimeiyuan (plum blossom garden) scene with it's beautiful moonlit set and plum blossom decked in snow.

 I love the designated colour palettes of the various concubines everything seemed very thought out to fit their personalities. consort hua was decked in bold colours and extravagant patterns, consort jing being calm and gentle was consistently dressed in soft blues and greens, while shen meizhuang is seen wearing mostly purples and pinks. one particular costume that lives in my mind rent free is zhen huan’s blue outfit with the white plum blossom embroidery in the episode 28- absolutely stunning.

𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌 - 10

honestly, if you took a shot for every time I've described this drama as perfect, you would definitely be on the floor by this point. The acting was absolutely now flawless. at no point in the drama did I ever feel drawn out of the story by the acting- sun li is jaw-dropping as zhen huan, her duality is absolutely insane and her crying scenes- ugh omg so good. 

.

.

𝖇𝖔𝖓𝖚𝖘!!

favourite character(s) :

zhen huan ( if your favourite character in this drama isn’t zhen huan, what are you doing???? she is an absolute icon in her own right. it’s literally impossible to not root for such a wonderful character- team zhen huan all the way )

consort hua / nian shilan ( ik ik, ik now she’s evil and everything, but I love her- she has a baseline which she will not cross and she does have a loyal heart. she loves the emperor almost unconditionally and while she would kill a concubine, she would never harm an unborn child. she seems to care for her servants, who are loyal in turn and I would argue that her being willing to employ a crippled eunuch is a sign of her more softer and caring side. and do I need even mention her snarky one liners?? slay. anyway that’s my essay in defence of consort hua )

ye lanyi ( a queen fr, she takes no-one’s shit )

.

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖗𝖊𝖜 (source mydramalist)

lead actors : sun li, chen jianbin, cha silfun

director : zheng xiaolong 

screenwriter : wu xuelan

[tsunflowers]

I saw a post on here about the book "wavewalker" by suzanne heywood and it seemed Wild so I got it from the library right away and only just finished. it's ms heywood's memoir about how when she was seven her parents took her and her younger brother to sail around the ocean following the path of captain cook's third voyage bc it was the bicentennial and their surname was cook. they said it would take three years but they ended up loving sailing so much that they trapped her on the boat for ten years making her take on more and more of the work required to run the boat even though she was a child and trying desperately to finish correspondence courses. I really read the whole book like this

her dad was like if a man was made entirely of red flags, with one major example being that he liked to hire crew who had no sailing experience so he could train them to sail the exact way he wanted. her mom was one of those people who doesn't understand that their child isn't their peer and froze her out for the crime of being a child. but the memoir isn't only about the profoundly abusive family dynamic compounded by being trapped on a boat. it's also a fascinating snapshot of a very particular time and place

they set sail in 76 so that's already a different world than the one I live in and the south pacific of that time was even more different. you get the sense the dad would have preferred to only stop in places with yacht clubs and lots of white expats but since he was sailing, against the wind, he had to stop anywhere he could. they ended up on a remote French research station, tristan da cunha, and many small islands and villages where the vibe was like "you gotta give a gift to the village chief if you're gonna anchor here"

it's unimaginable to me to live the lifestyle she did. but if you read wavewalker, you can imagine it for a little while

[joeyalohadream]

For the get to know your fic writer, I’m actually curious abt number 7 (how do u choose which pov to write from). I personally find it more challenging to write from John’s perspective since he has a big personality and I’m shy and introverted in real life myself haha. Also 76 if u wanted to share!! ❤️

Thank you for these! ❤️

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

I totally get that aspect of choosing! It can be hard to get into the headspace of a character you don't share many similarities with. In a similar vein, I feel like I have quite a bit in common with how I see Gale and I'm afraid of self-projecting too much if I write from his POV sometimes.

For me, it's usually determined by what the outcome of the story I want to tell is. If I'm writing the story to get a character from point A to point B or with the specific intent for a character transformation, I usually write from that characters perspective. Almost all of my fics are from John's POV because I find his mind a fun playground to climb around in.

I also write a lot of standalone hurt/comfort stories and I'm more comfortable writing from the POV of the comfort-er.

76. Did you have any ideas that didn't make the final cut of [insert fic name]?

This actually happens a lot. But I'll go with the 'Cooler Fic'. When I first came up with the idea, I had it in my head to write small snapshots of Gale's experience in solitary confinement as a way to show the time passing while John was going through it outside. But I scrubbed it.

But... I do have about 4K words written of a Gale-centric one-shot that will cover most of his time in the cooler. I most likely won't post it until after the boys are back in England because I want the audience to learn what Gale went through at the same pace as John does.

[mariacallous]

For this year’s International Women’s Day, the United Nations calls on us to “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress.” The theme highlights how, amid a global polycrisis, achieving gender equality is vital for the collective well-being of communities worldwide. It calls attention to the significant challenges that persist in ensuring gender-equitable outcomes: in particular, evidence from the 2023 Gender Snapshot projecting that 340 million women and girls will still be living in poverty by 2030 and highlighting a significant funding shortfall—an additional $360 billion investment needed to achieve SDG goals of gender equality.

As global calls for financing for gender equality continue, it is vital to center care in these conversations. Over the past few decades, while programs focusing on women’s inclusion into the formal economy have made promising strides, much of the labor traditionally performed by girls and women, such as domestic and care work, is unpaid and not accounted for in conventional economic models. Globally, women perform an estimated 76 percent of unpaid care work. Even when paid, care work is often characterized by low wages and inadequate working conditions, especially for the most marginalized workers.

This International Women’s Day, as we reflect upon the advances made in the struggle for gender equality and justice in the previous decades, policy and program design would also be strengthened from addressing the relative invisibility of women’s labor across informal and care economies.

Situating women in global development

Globally, women’s inclusion as stakeholders in development processes emerged in the 1970s as part of a transnational “Women in Development” movement, which sought to position women as central to development—both as agents and beneficiaries. The movement’s advocacy translated into significant policy shifts, beginning with the 1973 Percy Amendment to the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act, requiring that “U.S. foreign aid programs encourage and promote the integration of women into the national economies in the developing countries.”

In the following decade, a broad array of global actors began championing women’s role in development. For example, the OECD instituted the Guiding Principles for Supporting the Role of Women in Development in 1983, and the World Bank established a Women in Development division in 1987. Galvanized by the U.N. Decade for Women (1975), along with decades of feminist research and organizing across the Global South and North, such programs ranged from women workers’ rights to small scale social enterprise, the latter of which were contemporaneous with the ascendancy of neoliberal policies in the 1980s and the faith in increasingly market-based solutions toward development.

But much like the biologically deterministic category of “woman” itself, actors working in the women in development space were far from homogenous. Over the intervening decades, their work has pushed theory and practice in new directions, introducing debates over whether women’s economic inclusion should be separated from advocating structural transformations in the political economy and asking what the roles of gender, race, caste, class, ability, and geopolitics are in women’s development programs. This has led to new frameworks, including those emphasizing gender relations, intersectionality, and global redistributive politics, which continue to shape contemporary debates in the broader field of gender and development.

In many of these debates, the gendered division of labor has been at the center. For example, feminist research on social reproduction—which broadly refers to the paid and unpaid labor necessary to sustain human life, such as care work—highlights not only that such labor has historically been seen as “women’s work” but also how its devaluation is fundamental in reproducing inequality and patriarchy.

Building care infrastructures for a gender-equal future

So, while today’s calls to invest in gender equality can fuel transformative initiatives, there are also perils associated with focusing solely on women’s inclusion in the formal labor market. Evaluating progress through this lens can not only render women who perform domestic or care work as “unworthy, disposable others,” but can also erase how race, class, and geopolitics shape labor across all gender identities. A broader view of the economy, which encompasses concepts of care, is fundamental in creating a more gender-equal future. In fact, Sustainable Development Goal 5.4 underscores the importance of valuing unpaid work by providing essential public services and promoting shared household responsibilities.

Building care infrastructures that recognize, fairly compensate, and redistribute the care work performed predominately by the working class, migrants, and women of color can lead to a multitude of benefits, including ensuring better educational outcomes for children, improving women’s mental well-being, and expanding women’s access to economic opportunities. One example of how the redistribution of care work can lead to gender equality is adequate and well-incentivized paternity leave, which can increase mothers’ probability of reemployment, promote maternal health, and advance gender and economic equality. Additionally, recognizing unpaid care and domestic work can help promote the elimination of discriminatory social norms and deep-rooted stereotypes around ideas of gender and labor–ultimately contributing to building more inclusive societies for all gender identities.

Looking forward

As global stakeholders respond to this year’s International Women’s Day call, determining who, how, and what to invest in can facilitate progress toward more equitable and sustainable development goals.

Who: Using an intersectional lens can enable stakeholders to identify how different systems of oppression—and the particularities between them—marginalize individuals and communities across all gender identities, and who should be centered in policy and programs.

How: The root causes of marginalization may then be addressed through a critical reflection of power dynamics across and within development contexts, and empowering local communities to chart their paths toward justice and equality, which can also inform recent “localization” efforts championed by development actors such as the U.S. Agency for International Development.

What: Finally, such shifts toward intersectionality and localization may also benefit from directly addressing inequities at the household, community, and national levels—in particular, both domestic work at home and in paid sectors such as education and health care—by developing concrete tools and infrastructures that value and redistribute care burdens.

As we craft new strategies to carry forward the decades-long fight to transform systems that sustain inequality and patriarchy, reimagining the relationships between gender, labor, and the economy is essential to building a more just future for all.

[imperiuswrecked]

hello :) i have very recently gotten into namor comics and i wanted to know, what are your favorite arcs/solos hes had? i hope its not too much of a bother. thank you and i hope youre doing well. ^_^

Hello and welcome. It's always a pleasure to speak with Namor fans ❤️ Thanks for asking, I'm well and I hope you are too.

Series:

King in Black: Namor - It's wonderfully written and gives us great lore and character moments. It's written by Kurt Busiek who really knows the character. The artwork is amazing, drawn by two different artists but I have to point out how much I really enjoy the colorists' work. The way they chose to make present day Namor scenes all muted colors, like the ocean is sick and dying, meanwhile his past scenes has such vibrant color.

Sub-Mariner: The Depths - I'm a big horror fan so this was a perfect combination of horror and Namor. I wish this would someday be adapted into a short animation or live action film. Ribic's art carries the whole comic, you could understand it just by the art alone, tho the writing is great too.

Sub-Mariner (2007) - Honesty I feel this series is criminally under rated, it's one of my favorite modern takes on Namor. I do have a couple of criticisms of the plot/ending but overall this series is favorite, love the artwork, love the premise and Namor's characterization.

The Sub-Mariner (1968) - I'm a big fan of Silver Age Namor and this series has lots of great comics but some do drag on at point. Personal favorites, Namor vs The Thing and Namor meeting Betty again in #8, Dorma being possessed by the Serpent Crown in #9. Gonna stop there before I go digging to find every issue I loved, bc there's just a lot there, like I love Tigershark's introduction/stories and Namor and Diane's friendship, and the quest for Namor's father etc.

Arc's:

Tales to Astonish: The Quest for Neptune's Trident #70-76. (To be fair I do love a lot Tales to Astonish but I'm just trying to pick out arcs that I reread alot.)

Namor goes insane in space: Uncanny X-Men (1963) Annual 3 (2001), Steve Rogers: Super Soldier Annual 1, Namor: The First Mutant Annual 1

Suma-Ket & Artys-Gran Arc - Namor, the Sub-Mariner (1990) #30-40. Dark Undersea High Fantasy arc, love it.

Solo Comics:

Marvel Fanfare (1982) #16 & 43, both these are solo adventures

Marvel Snapshot: Sub-Mariner (2020) - I can never get enough of this comic, told from Betty's pov, its wonderful.

Avengers: Emperor Doom - I love every time Namor and Doom team up or interact but if I had to pick one time it's this.

What if? Sub-Mariner (2011) - Love love this story by Greg Pak of Namor growing up on land.

The Judgement of Namor - Dark Reign: The Cabal - Namor takes court and deals with his subjects. An excellent look into Namor's role as the monarch of Atlantis.

Marvel (2020) #3 - I loved the sketch arts of the comic that was unfinished, it had been around for decades but when Marvel finally printed it in full I was so happy. I still prefer the sketchy art but I thought this was a fun adventure and Namor is in a suit, lol.

Marvel Comics Presents: (1988) #33 - All time favorite Namor comic, #1 spot in my heart. (2007) #7 - Namor mourns Nita's death (2019) #1 - A heavy story by Greg Pak about WWll

Tales of the Marvels: Inner Demons - a look at Namor while he was an amnesiac

I haven't even started on character team up comics or team books and if I start on those I won't stop. lol. I'll put a link here to my 2019 comic reading guide that can help you find most major arcs. I hope you enjoy reading!

[dollarbin]

Shakey Sundays #35:

Hitchhiker (plus A Snapshot in Time)

Six months is a century in Shakeytown.

These days Neil will summon the Stop Shopping Choir for a whistle stop tour, release 4-5 new Archive records, reroute 6 barns worth of toy trains, publish a Greenville zine or two, respond to 4,672 fan emails on his forever Beta-version website, each in 7 words or less and each response featuring the words "peace," "love" and "Al Gore", write 36 new songs, all of them with the working title Love Earth (Or Else), and publish yet another memoir, this one dedicated to his penchant for hip hop, all in a six month window.

Case in point: Archives 3 is about ten minutes old and he's already promoting a forthcoming and utterly unrelated live record from his first tour with Cranky, Silly, and Gnash. Apparently Joni was at the show, gnashing her own teeth in anguish while Graham "Honey Baked" Hash debuted Our House; by the end of the show Mitchell surely instructed Grahamcracker to retitle his song My House (Cuz Joni Just Slipped Out The Back, Jack). Nash, apparently, refused to make the change.

All of Neil's productivity is cool; it's a great time to be a Shakey fan. But these days he lives beside a Colorado lake with Daryl, her dogs, 64 of his cars and the grinning ghosts of David Briggs and Ben Keith; 48 years ago he lived utterly alone in a psychedelic tepee of his very own design.

After all, just try and get your mind around all he accomplished between August 76 and March 77:

He got high as a kite and recorded the primary subject of this week's post in a single night.

He wrote an entirely different record (this week's secondary subject) and taught it to Nicolette Larson and Linda Ronstadt in one sitting.

He recorded 1/2 of that second album with a full band, eventually releasing it as the Side A of American Stars and Bars.

He wrote the highlight of that album - Will To Love, which is arguably the single greatest song of his entire career - and then spent another single night in the studio layering up instruments for it in front of his signature crackling fire - and he has not played the track again a single time since in any setting of any kind, ever. Guess he's had too much else to do.

He released a mixed-at-best record he'd made in the previous six months with Stephen Stills and Joe Freakin' Lala.

He began a full tour with those dopes, playing a month's worth of shows before making new plans Stan and telling them in writing to eat a peach and finish up without him.

He played a full US tour with Crazy Horse instead.

He performed at The Last Waltz.

He found the time to do a lot of cocaine, which is apparently obvious in Scorsese's footage. I've never been able to see the rock in question, however. My working knowledge of Belushidust is clearly negligible.

He continued to write songs about his recent breakup with Carrie Snodgress while starting to romance both the aforementioned Larson and his future beleaguered wife, Pegi. (Plus he surely probably slept with countless other women in this period; Neil was quoted at the time as "really enjoying the bachelor life," which sounds even sleazier than the reality television show of that moniker, which, by the way, should totally feature Neil in its next Golden iteration; after all, he's already demonstrated that he is perfectly willing to ditch his current wife so as to play the field.) Okay, that was just mean. Sorry Neil!

And, right around the moment those six months were up, Young joined yet another band - The Ducks - which was entirely unrelated to all the other bands listed above, and began the process of learning 20+ of their songs.

Plus he chewed a whole lot of Bubblicous and guzzled a whole lot of Natty Light throughout it all.

Yeah, he did all that - except #12: fooled you there! Both delectable items were introduced in the following six months, during which time Young, you guessed it, recorded yet another album of unrelated songs with entirely new musicians.

So, I gotta ask: what the hell did you accomplish between the late summer of 76 and the Spring of 77? I'll bet you can't compete with me or Neil. After all, I crapped my diaper, repeatedly. My mother reports that I "looked just like a frog." I'll bet your lazy ass wasn't even born yet.

Anyway, I stand before you on this very Shakey Sunday prepared to argue that the greatest thing Neil did in that incredibly crammed six months, except for Will To Love, is Hitchiker, the done-in-a-single-altered-night acoustic record which he waited a mere 40 years to release rather than waiting the full 48 so as to include it on Archives 3.

Let's drop the needle already and talk about Hitchhiker's shimmering greatness.

First of all, the whole thing is a poetic work of art. I'm serious. Pocahontas and Powderfinger set the table: both are dreamscape anthems, chock full of heartbreak, guns and waterfowl. And Campaigner may well be Neil's lyrical high-water mark. When roads stretch out like healthy veins and wild gift horses strain the rains I kinda freak out.

Note the previously edited out second verse featured on Hitchhiker: you know a song is lyrically exceptional when a line like "traffic cops are all color blind and people steal from their own kind" submits to the editor's ax.

Plus, beauty has rarely been draped in such stark and hopeless wonder. Indeed, the only record I can think of with a tone to match Hitchhiker is Pink Moon - and what higher praise can you think of than comparing anything to Nick Drake's unadorned-by-anything-or-anyone-else Pink Moon? Neil and Nick had both had it, at least for the moment, with arranging records. So instead they just took the Plastic Ono Band approach and upped Lennon's ante by laying all the songs down in a single take, every last bit of their armor set aside so as to reveal their very souls.

Just compare Give Me Strength and Which Will. Hear two men who could not have been more fundamentally different both asking the kind of fundamental and elemental questions which males are still instructed to avoid out of false courage and idiocy.

Yeah, I know: Neil's song coulda' used one more take as he loses track of the chord structure and melody altogether for parts of the closing. But I still say my comparison is apt even if Shakey and Drake couldn't be further apart on the sobriety and perfectionist spectrums.

Hitchhiker's tone could not be more different than its newly surfaced companion, the here, let-me-show-you-how-our-record-is-gonna-sound session Neil concocted for Linda and Nicolette six months later and which Neil has titled A Snapshot In Time for Archives 3. Snapshot replaces the earlier record's stark and trembling poetics with a big dose of what Ronstadt instantly recognizes on tape as "obnoxiousness."

On the one hand you have the songs Linda was directly referring to: check out, if you can get your hands on it (Neil seems to be clutching many of the tracks from Archives 3 in his self-appointed greedy hands rather than posting them for free on the internet) Young posing as a randy, grinning and stumbling creeper in Saddle Up the Palomino.

Here's the eventual band track.

Neil's mood had clearly shifted a great deal in the intervening six months. Lines like, "it's a cold bowl of chili when life lets you down but to it's the neighbor's wife I'm after" would have had no place whatsoever on Hitchhiker. Nor would the song's attempt at an arena rock riff.

On the other hand, even Snapshot's non-boneheaded songs are a bit obnoxious. Imagine inviting Linda Ronstadt over and then asking her to sing along with lyrics like "hey babe, say your mine all mine" over and over again. She'll do it - if you're Neil Young. But don't fool yourself; she'd rather have been taught Give Me Stength.

Look: I love every moment of A Snapshot in Time, not to mention the first half of the classic record it spawned. But it sure ain't high art.

Hitchhiker though? It'd take me a solid six months just to shout all its transcendent praises.

[rosesinspirationandreference]

1. Sabotage 2. Sacrament 3. Sacred 4. Sacrifice 5. Sacrilege 6. Sadness 7. Safe 8. Safeguard   9. Sailor 10. Saltwater

11. Salvage 12. Salvation 13. Sanctuary 14. Sand 15. Sanity   16. Sapphire 17. Sarcasm 18. Satellite 19. Satisfaction 20. Saturday 21. Savage 22. Save 23. Saviour 24. Scalding 25. Scale 26. Scandalous 27. Scare 28. Scarlet 29. Scarred 30. Scattered 31. Scenery 32. Scent 33. Scholar 34. School 35. Science 36. Scrapbook   37. Scratch 38. Scream 39. Scribe 40. Scrolls 41. Sculptor 42. Scythe   43. Sea 44. Seance 45. Search 46. Seashells 47. Seatbelts 48. Seclusion 49. Second 50. Secret 51. Security 52. Seduce 53. Seeds 54. Seeking 55. Selfish 56. Senile 57. Sensational 58. Senseless 59. Sentences 60. Sentimental 61. Separate 62. Serendipity 63. Serpent 64. Servant 65. Shackle 66. Shadow 67. Shallow 68. Shame 69. Shameless 70. Shampoo   71. Shards   72. Share 73. Shatter 74. Shaving 75. Sheet 76. Shelter 77. Shenanigans 78. Shield 79. Shifting 80. Shine 81. Shirt 82. Shock 83. Shooting 84. Short 85. Shoulder 86. Shower 87. Shrieks 88. Shrine 89. Shrouded 90. Shuffle 91. Shy 92. Sibling 93. Sick 94. Sight 95. Sightseeing 96. Signal 97. Signed 98. Silence 99. Silhouette 100. Silk 101. Silver 102. Similarities 103. Simplicity 104. Sincere 105. Sinful   106. Sing 107. Singularity 108. Sinister 109. Sinking 110. Size 111. Skeleton 112. Sketch 113. Skies 114. Skiing 115. Skipping 116. Slapped 117. Slave 118. Slaying 119. Sleepless 120. Sleepover 121. Slice 122. Slick 123. Slide   124. Slipping 125. Slither 126. Sloppy 127. Slow 128. Small 129. Smile 130. Smirk 131. Smitten   132. Smoke 133. Smooth 134. Smudge 135. Snacks 136. Snapped 137. Snapshot 138. Snared 139. Snarling 140. Sneak 141. Snow 142. Snowblind 143. Snowbound 144. Snuggle 145. Soaked 146. Soap 147. Soar 148. Society 149. Soft 150. Solace 151. Solar 152. Soldiers 153. Solemn 154. Solitaire 155. Solitude 156. Solution 157. Somebody 158. Someday 159. Somewhere 160. Sonnets 161. Soothing 162. Sorcerer 163. Sorrow 164. Sorry 165. Soul 166. Soulmate 167. Sound 168. Sourpuss 169. Souvenir   170. Space 171. Spark 172. Sparkle 173. Speak 174. Special 175. Specialists 176. Spectator 177. Speechless 178. Speed 179. Spellbound   180. Spending 181. Sphinx 182. Spice 183. Spies   184. Spiral 185. Spirit 186. Split 187. Spoils 188. Spontaneous 189. Spooky 190. Spooning 191. Spotlight 192. Spring 193. Spying 194. Square 195. Squeak 196. Squeezed 197. Stab 198. Stability 199. Stage 200. Stagnant 201. Stained 202. Stairway 203. Stakeout 204. Stalemate 205. Stalker   206. Stamina 207. Stance 208. Stand   209. Standard 210. Star 211. Star-crossed 212. Stargazing   213. Starting 214. Startled 215. Starve 216. Static 217. Stay 218. Steady 219. Steal 220. Stealth 221. Steel 222. Stereotypes 223. Stickers 224. Stigmatize   225. Stitches 226. Stoic 227. Stole   228. Stone 229. Stop 230. Storm   231. Stranded 232. Strange 233. Strawberries 234. Stray   235. Street 236. Strength 237. Stress   238. Stretching 239. Stricken 240. Strictly 241. Strike   242. Strings 243. Striving 244. Strolling 245. Struggle 246. Stubble 247. Stubborn 248. Stuck 249. Students 250. Study 251. Stupid 252. Subconscious 253. Subdued   254. Subject 255. Subliminal 256. Submerge 257. Submission   258. Substitute 259. Subtle 260. Subway 261. Success 262. Succumb 263. Suddenly 264. Suffer 265. Suggestive 266. Summer 267. Summon 268. Sunbathing   269. Sunbeams 270. Sunburn 271. Sunflower 272. Sunkissed 273. Sunlight 274. Sunrise 275. Superficial 276. Superhero   277. Superiority 278. Supernatural 279. Supernova 280. Superstition 281. Support 282. Surface 283. Surprise 284. Surrender 285. Surveillance 286. Survival   287. Swagger 288. Swamp 289. Swapped 290. Sway 291. Sweat 292. Sweet 293. Swimming 294. Switchblade 295. Sword 296. Sworn 297. Symbol 298. Sympathy 299. Synchronicity 300. Synergy

[thevampiresoc]

Snapshots mouse ain't his mouse anymore. That's the group mouse.

[davetada]

Saweetie at Sukeban

Downtown LA, CA

[pluralsword]

Transformers Fanfic Recs

Hey so, we remember there being talk about starting up fic recs again, so we went and made a fic rec bookmark collection with different subcategories (short fic, short shipping fic, and long fic or series) on Ao3! For most of them we haven’t commented what we liked or not, just two where we mentioned something that squicked us but we enjoyed the work and think it’s good. We don’t have the spoons really to do reviews of them or add captions. Here’s a snapshot of the bookmark lists, which are set up to be randomly listed:

From the overall bookmark list: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Fics_Pluralsword_Recomends/bookmarks

Above is an image of Ao3 bookmarked works, the three listed are:

1) Day 2: Pink by GemmaRose (she’s a fantastic writer of sapphic and lesbian robot stuff)

2) How to Be A Bike by PrimeRadiant (I really love his stories, they have such a unique viewpoint on transformer-organic relations, alien parallels, how their code and language would work, and gestalt stuff and martial arts)

3) Cybertronian Tales! #0 Prologue by sofie_the_trans_girl (the series is incomplete right now, but if you want to read some action set during the WW1 era with Anode as a biplane of the time working with Marissa Faireborn, highly recommend this)

And as an example of short shipping fic recs: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Short_Ship_Fics_Pluralsword_Recomends

Above is an image of Ao3 bookmarked works, the three listed are:

1) Day 23: Arcee & Greenlight by GemmaRose 

2) Roadside Attraction by Lush Specimen (this Arcee/Aileron fic they wrote is so fun and cute, with a lovely depiction of emotions, we want to read their longer fic Raiders of the Lost Forge but haven’t had the chance)

3) Is It Gay to Ask Your Friend out by birdwhythis (absolutely hilarious Nautica/Velocity fic. Haven’t read a lot of their stuff otherwise but we enjoyed this fic)

There’s a bunch of other writers and fics in three collections put together, over 76 bookmarks so far. In regards to the ship fics, most of what we read for that is sapphic/lesbian or similar content, so if you’re having a hard time finding something like that and want something that isn’t erotic (there’s one or two fics on there that hint at eroticism about as much as the queer robot canon does these days for humor) hopefully this list helps! There are more on our reading list we haven’t gotten to yet, and we will eventually venture into reading longer fics more :3

[aesthetic-empathies]

Gao Hang, In your face, 2020. Acrylic on canvas. 40 x 30 in. (101 x 76 cm).

Gao Hang’s Boxer Suspended in Time

In a boxing ring without a ring, you are a pugilist embroiled in a match. No, literally, and you have been for the past three years. At least, in your current state, painted by Gao Hang, on display in the Anya Tish Gallery in Houston, Texas. It is crucial to note that this painting only shows part of you: your pencil-straight arm is the only marker of your presence. Where is the rest of you? Possibly floating in a limbo state between levels of media. Your opponent may take up a greater portion of the canvas, but you know Hang has selected you as his star athlete (can you call him ‘coach’?). It is your eyes, through which spectators enter the ring. You provide the embodiment for their aesthetic experience. Yet despite this supposed privilege, you can’t help but suspect a veiled exploitation. 

The scene is restricted and liberated. All of you are restricted by the limitations of late 20th-century video game graphics. Polygonal volumes trace the borders of perceptible bodies. Yet the contents of your shapes reveal a freedom of hues. You observe your opponent. His pained expression is obscured by a damp cloud, whose humidity wettened the paint and allowed it to smear. Colors are freed from their pixel cages and settle into a soft blend, overlaid by a grainy texture. The blurred gradient volumes are separated by razor-sharp lines, preventing the grime-tinted audience members from blending into one another. Stark against the rest of the canvas, is your fluorescent boxing glove, its flatness beautifully realized by acrylic paint.

Your hand has clipped - or is clipping -  through his angularly bald head, a high-speed collision glitch. You are not sure which tense to use; the ephemerality of this event has stretched beyond the sensible (or the comfortable). When it happened, pride surged through you: your movement speed beat the virtual medium’s frame rate. But this sense of accomplishment soon turned into an indeterminacy. Because of this error, you are temporarily rendered hollow. An awful state of being that makes you question your power.

On the stands in front of you, the expressive figures generate a cacophonous medley of cheers and heckles, but behind you, the spectators are much more reserved. While you are stuck in a snapshot, you can rear your head to view the audience behind you. The room does not even have any seats, it’s just an empty cube enclosed by white walls. Does the gallery owner also gamble their funds away like the brutes that bet on you? On your side, the spectators seem contemplative. Initially, you had considered their reactions positively surprising for a rowdy match like this, almost like they bestowed you with dignity. But after years of being static, you began to discern a vileness in their observation. A condescension. 

You are a doubly-mediated spectacle. In your world, you are a fighter, a performer, whose physical strength is commodified. Bets are placed on your brawn and grit. The stimulating appeal of this fight resulted in its simulation in the form of digital play, allowing anyone access to your body. In the spectators’ world, a fault in your medium is the mainspring of your display, their reactions typified by amusement. In all of these cases, your suffering serves as the main force of attraction. And attract you do. Spectators huddle around you, clogging the cramped hallways of your exhibition space. This coagulation of humans reminds you of the blood that would have splattered, had your body not become hollow.

You have heard critics say you appeal to the sensibilities of the digitally literate generation. Their time is marked by social media and the absence of privacy. As the borders between public and private gradually blur, all that is deemed entertaining must . If the processes of humanization are not to be done through a screen, nothing stops real suffering from becoming entertainment. How does one humanize with what is so far away from them? To some, you represent a nostalgic negotiation of the post-digital condition through familiarity. To others, you are the embodiment of fauxstalgia, created to reflect the current online zeitgeist through the visual language of a digital aesthetic from three decades back. A tasteless anachronism. Critics sure love their words. But, whatever, it probably makes sense to the viewers. And what do you know? You are just a brainless fighter.

Indeterminate and stuck in staticity, you wait for any indication signaling a continuation of the match. It cannot end without a winner, and so, without a winner, it will never end.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter - Monday, July 24, Tuesday July 25

JOYCE: (interrupts, mad) You know what? I don't care. I don't care what your friends think of me, or you for that matter, because you put me through the wringer, Buffy. (inhales) I mean it. (exhales and inhales) And I've had schnapps!

~~Dead Man's Party~~

The Sunnydale Herald is looking for at least one new editor. Contributing to the Herald is a great way to get your Buffy on! Find out more here.

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

One More Heart to Break (Xander/Andrew, G) by TheHazCady

[Chaptered Fiction]

She's a Hoot Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Desicat

In Death, That I May Live... Chapter 35 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Irishrose

Word of the Day Chapter 25 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Nupalie

Doing my best to get back to you (Ain't nothing I'd rather do) Chapter 16 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Fortes775

When Buffy Met Lorne Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by kanita

Snapshots from the Spuffyverse Chapter 20 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by cawthraven

Home movies Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by cawthraven

Wonderfully Weird Chapter 76 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Jws1993

Jigsaw Chapter 23 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Dusty

Through the Years Chapter 25 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by DarkVoid116

Not Quite Gone Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by kanita

Closure Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by The Danish Bird

A Vampire's Guide to Dating the Slayer Chapter 22 (Buffy/Spike, R) by the_big_bad

Becoming us Chapter 81 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by BewitchedXx

The Truth Shall Set You Free Chapter 7 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Geliot99

Five Steps to Falling in Love Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Wojtekstan

Hi Daddy Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, PG) by SzmattyCat

Up and Away Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, R) by simmony

Excerpts Chapter 27 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Holly

Fractured Pieces Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by RavenLove12

Vengeance, Valentines, and Karaoke Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, R) by ClowniestLivEver

The Time Between Chapter 11 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by JayeMaru

Sometimes Chapter 12 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Electric Heart

In Another World Chapter 7 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Amina

In The Dark With You Chapter 17 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Geliot99

The (bad) Poems of William S. Pratt Chapter 23 (Buffy/Spike, G) by Julikobold

The stories we could tell Chapter 22 (Buffy/Spike, G) by Julikobold

The Text Message Memories of Buffy & Spike Chapter 24 (Buffy/Spike, G) by Julikobold

The Art of Dying Chapter 23 (Buffy/Spike, R) by disco-tea

Rigor in Research Chapter 63 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Soulburnt

The Plunge Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Harlow Turner

These Small Hours Chapter 25 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by sunshine-of-my-lifetime

Blackout Chapter 32 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by bewildered

Not Quite Gone Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by kanita

Part of the Family Chapter 20 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Harlow Turner

Keepsakes Chapter 26 (Buffy/Spike, G) by violettathepiratequeen

Dreams Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Dusty

Don't Fall for Rock Stars Chapter 70 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by scratchmeout

Zero Complaints Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Lady Emma

The Alphabet of Spuffy Chapter 10 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by VeroNyxK84

Dawn the Vampire Slayer Chapter 21 (Buffy/Spike, R) by LJ94

Rules of the Road Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by honeygirl51885

Yahtzee! Chapter 25 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by honeygirl51885

The joys of life of a newlywed (not so regular) couple Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by JSBirsa

Smoke Gets In Your EyesChapter 2 (Giles&Buffy, M) by ttfan111robstar1

[Image, Audio & Video]

Video: Glory:An Underrated Big Bad by Britneyfan123

[Fandom Discussions]

I know they are a hot mess but I just want to take a moment to appreciate how pretty they look together by Ravenclaw54321

Who do you prefer? by jdpm1991

Which threat scared you the most? by Vertigo_Vertigo

no matter how much you dislike dawn. you have to admit, this is the most saddest scene by fallingforours

Poll - Who bought Giles a Kiss The Librarian mug by InfiniteMehdiLove

Any public outcry for satanic themes when the show originally aired? by Albaloca

Characters you liked more on rewatch by The810kid

Comics by Mindless_Papaya2862

Have you ever related to any storylines/characters from BtVS? by DasSockenmonster

Spike’s Chip uses magic? by RangoonDoom

Tara & Spike Prequel books by SnooDoggos5311

The factory hideout by NihilisticCucumber

Buffy having zero haters by Eltheslayer

A - Z of Buffy “S” by Buffster13

What did the First Slayer tell the Potentials? by AndrewHeard

How blatant the Buffy/Faith subtext is by Maximum_Arachnid2804

Feeling like Season 1 is underrated. Thoughts? by CheesecakeHorror8613

Was it Spike or Angel's idea? by gimmesomespace

Buffy and the flu by Tuxedo_Mark

Anya by Shoddy_Aardvark1533

which character has the best arc from their first appearance to the last? by SeriouslyNotSerious2

Unpopular opinion by katiesalter

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

For multiple reasons, The Nightmare Before Christmas has become a holiday staple: the bold visuals, memorable soundtrack & songs, art direction, inventive plot… there’s no wrong reason to call it a favourite. You’ll be tempted to pop it into your player on Halloween. You'll be tempted to watch it again on Christmas. I say, why not both?

Jack Skellington (voiced by Chris Sarandon) is the king of Halloween Town but he's grown bored with his crown. When Jack discovers Christmas, he and his demented cohorts decide to bring their own version of the holiday to the world.

Brought to life through state-of-the art stop-motion animation, you only need to see one frame of this film for it to be stamped in your mind forever. The shadows of Halloween Town evoke the horror films of the German impressions era and the stop-motion makes you think of Rankin and Bass’ Christmas stories but nothing we’ve seen before or since looks quite like this. The jagged edges of the architecture, the crooked postures of the witches, the vampires’ bulbous eyes, the ghosts, the pumpkins... every citizen of Halloween Town has emerged from the mind of someone who was thinking completely out of the box. Every year, I hear renewed rumours of Disney wanting to make a live-action adaptation - quite ironic considering the studio didn’t think the film would fit their brand in 1993 (early prints/releases were done through Touchstone Pictures). Whoever thinks a remake is a good idea should get their head examined. It doesn’t matter how many snapshots of fans in Skellington makeup we see, no one could move the way the Pumpkin King does - even with the aid of motion-capture effects. No one could sing the songs the way Danny Elfman does. No one could match Ken Page as Oogie Boogie. Every attempt to replicate Dr. Finkelstein's laboratory, the curved peaks of Halloweentown or the cheerful elves of Christmas Town would be just that: a replication. This is a movie that proves certain things are only achievable through animation.

The incredible soundtrack by Elfman (yes, he does double-duty) guarantees you’ll want to watch the film over and over. From the first number, you’re hooked. Whenever a song ends, you kind of wish it would go on longer. It feels as though you’ve just finally memorized all the words in the refrain and were getting ready to chime in. No worries. At a brief 76 minutes, you can squeeze many viewings into one evening. In fact, if there’s any criticism to give this movie, it’s that it could’ve been longer. Some elements of the conclusion feel a tad rushed (particularly the romance with Catherine O'Hara's Sally) even though the story’s final note is just about perfect.

Whether it’s for the songs, art direction & visuals, characters, premise or a combination, you’ll feel compelled to reach for The Nightmare Before Christmas over and over again. Multiple viewings allow you to fully appreciate the quality of the melodies and rhymes featured in the hit-after-hit numbers. Once you're over the initial shock of the ghoulish characters that strangely feel right at home next to Christmas critters, you're able to spot all of the intricate details in the tiny sets and models brought to life by the talented animators.

Though often attribute to Tim Burton, The Nightmare Before Christmas was actually directed by Henry Sellick (the story was inspired by his ideas but he was busy working on Batman Returns while Nightmare was being assembled). This film is a little twisted and a little scary. It’s also enchanting and warm. The hype around it is well-earned. (On Blu-ray, December 22, 2019)

[dan6085]

Here are the top 25 countries with the longest road networks, along with some details:

1. **United States**: 7,044,453 km

- Paved: 5,124,000 km (73%)

- Unpaved: 1,920,453 km (27%)

- Controlled-access: 95,648 km (1.4%)

2. **India**: 6,700,000 km

- Paved: 4,500,000 km (67%)

- Unpaved: 2,200,000 km (33%)

- Controlled-access: 5,579 km (0.1%)

3. **China**: 5,350,000 km

- Paved: 5,350,000 km (100%)

- Unpaved: 0 km (0%)

- Controlled-access: 177,000 km (3.3%)

4. **Brazil**: 2,000,000 km

- Paved: 214,000 km (11%)

- Unpaved: 1,786,000 km (89%)

- Controlled-access: 17,000 km (0.9%)

5. **Russia**: 1,538,875 km

- Paved: 677,105 km (44%)

- Unpaved: 861,770 km (56%)

- Controlled-access: 1,680 km (0.1%)

6. **Japan**: 1,218,772 km

- Paved: 992,835 km (81%)

- Unpaved: 225,937 km (19%)

- Controlled-access: 30,469 km (2.5%)

7. **France**: 1,053,215 km

- Paved: 1,053,215 km (100%)

- Unpaved: 0 km (0%)

- Controlled-access: 11,671 km (1.1%)

8. **Canada**: 1,042,300 km

- Paved: 415,600 km (40%)

- Unpaved: 626,700 km (60%)

- Controlled-access: 17,041 km (1.6%)

9. **Australia**: 873,573 km

- Paved: 145,928 km (17%)

- Unpaved: 727,645 km (83%)

- Controlled-access: 1,716 km (0.2%)

10. **Germany**: 830,000 km

- Paved: 830,000 km (100%)

- Unpaved: 0 km (0%)

- Controlled-access: 16,365 km (2.5%)

11. **Mexico**: 836,603 km

- Paved: 175,526 km (21%)

- Unpaved: 641,986 km (79%)

- Controlled-access: 11,094 km (1.4%)

12. **South Africa**: 750,000 km

- Paved: 158,124 km (21%)

- Unpaved: 591,876 km (79%)

- Controlled-access: 1,927 km (0.3%)

13. **Thailand**: 702,989 km

- Controlled-access: 536 km (0.1%)

14. **Spain**: 683,175 km

- Paved: 683,175 km (100%)

- Unpaved: 0 km (0%)

- Controlled-access: 17,228 km (2.5%)

15. **Sweden**: 573,134 km

- Paved: 140,100 km (24%)

- Unpaved: 433,034 km (76%)

- Controlled-access: 2,050 km (0.4%)

16. **Vietnam**: 570,448 km

- Paved: 280,663 km (49%)

- Unpaved: 289,785 km (51%)

- Controlled-access: 1,276 km (0.2%)

17. **Indonesia**: 548,097 km

- Paved: 329,189 km (60%)

- Unpaved: 218,908 km (40%)

- Controlled-access: 2,816 km (0.5%)

18. **Italy**: 487,700 km

- Paved: 487,700 km (100%)

- Unpaved: 0 km (0%)

- Controlled-access: 6,700 km (1.4%)

19. **Finland**: 454,000 km

- Paved: 78,000 km (17%)

- Unpaved: 350,000 km (77%)

- Controlled-access: 863 km (0.2%)

20. **Turkey**: 438,633 km

- Paved: 29,879 km (7%)

- Unpaved: 43,251 km (10%)

- Controlled-access: 3,726 km (0.8%)

21. **Poland**: 429,800 km

- Paved: 293,800 km (68%)

- Unpaved: 136,000 km (32%)

- Controlled-access: 5,188 km (1.2%)

22. **United Kingdom**: 424,129 km

- Paved: 424,129 km (100%)

- Unpaved: 0 km (0%)

- Controlled-access: 3,701 km (0.9%)

23. **Bangladesh**: 369,105 km

- Paved: 110,311 km (30%)

- Unpaved: 258,794 km (70%)

- Controlled-access: 55 km (0.0%)

24. **Egypt**: 325,250 km

- Paved: 240,000 km (74%)

- Unpaved: 85,250 km (26%)

- Controlled-access: 1,034 km (0.3%)

25. **Malaysia**: 279,862 km

- Paved: 198,932 km (71%)

- Unpaved: 80,930 km (29%)

- Controlled-access: 5,027 km (1.8%)

These figures provide a snapshot of the extensive road networks in these countries, highlighting the balance between paved and unpaved roads, as well as the presence of controlled-access highways¹²³.

Is there a specific country or detail you are more interested in?

Source: Conversation with Copilot, 9/4/2024

(1) List of countries by road network size - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_road_network_size.

(2) The world’s biggest road networks - Road Traffic Technology. https://www.roadtraffic-technology.com/features/featurethe-worlds-biggest-road-networks-4159235/.

(3) Length of the largest road networks - Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/262887/length-of-the-largest-road-networks/.

(4) Road network worldwide 2020, by country - Statista. https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1150796/road-network-by-country.

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(17) Getty. https://media.gettyimages.com/id/843008242/photo/poland-flag-in-blue-sky-and-warsaw-in-background.jpg?b=1&s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=2oGlDL7VM5V73IjW5lz9-SwOBvESzQfk-PGp8ukGMh0=.

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(19) Getty. https://media.gettyimages.com/id/517972764/photo/kuala-lumpur-urban-scene-malaysia.jpg?b=1&s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=JEBbWnYGVVLV79mFMUv1E9FSMquXfD_wCW4pdTqPKBo=.