Leahgates

madeleineishere:

Sometimes me and my boyf come up with some good relationship advice 

georgialobbe:

miss-love:

gentlemanintheradiator:

Pendleton Ward (the creator of “Adventure Time”) and Polly Lou Livingston (the voice of Tree Trunks).

She’s so amazing. 

she’s like the human version of Tree Trunks oh god I love her

omgggggg

This is doing nothing to dissuade my belief that Adventure Time is a documentary from the future

pickleandharveybulldogblog:

Dad tell us a story.

Amelia Rise Donkey farm presents redonkulous miniature donkey redonkeyage beyond redonkeyable redonkeydom!

And this is Poppi, AKA Mrs. Mouse, one of their two rescue pups, hitchin’ a ride on Snugglepot.

Livingstone and Snugglepot following a wee Hobbit, 15 month old boy named, Jack.

Hi. Hi. How are you? Good and you? Not bad. Nice weather today. Sure is. (making small talk)

Snugglepot snugglin’ Jack.

Donkey Livingstone I presume?

Snugglepot’s back! Small world, eh!

And Jack loves Cuddle Pie. Oh, it’s no big thing.

As seen on HuffPost Green. Photos by David Caird/Newspix/Rex USA. Amelia Rise Donkeys on Facebook

STONY BROOK (US) — Along with feathers and wishbones, “flight-ready” brains were present in non-avian dinosaurs, research shows.

Contrary to the “bird brain” cliché, the term actually describes a relatively enlarged brain that has the capacity required for flight and was present in one of the earliest known birds, Archaeopteryx.

PENN STATE (US) — As global temperatures rise, cycles of infestation from common plant pests may become more frequent and more violent, experts warn.

A new study may shed light on how temperature influences whether insects emerge as cohesive cohorts or continuously—and could have implications for both pest control and how climate change can alter infestations.

MICHIGAN STATE (US) — Biologists say they have new evidence that evolution tends to favor cooperation, not selfishness.

The findings refute a theory popularized in 2012 that suggests meanies have the evolutionary upper hand.

U. PITTSBURGH (US) — Hydrogels can be reshaped and even moved around, using only light, according to new computer models.

Some animals—like the octopus and cuttlefish—transform their shape based on environment, fending off attackers or threats in the wild. For decades, researchers have worked toward mimicking similar biological responses in non-living organisms, as it would have significant implications in the medical arena.

You can see that a bulldog is So Tired when it puts its face between its paws and sticks out its tongue

cuteanimalsbaddates:

YOURE WELCOME TO JOIN ME. BRING YOUR OWN PIZZA. 

cuteanimalsbaddates:

Oh, dude, you start out sounding halfway reasonable and then you just didn’t know when to stop. 

cloverthebulldog:

How can you say no to this face?

vidreebro:

HE HAS FUCKIN SHOWER CAPS ON HIS MUSTACHE

ami-angelwings:

I was reading this post on Racialicious about the continuing problems with Rick Remender’s Uncanny Avengers and his idea that discrimination would just be solved if people stopped seeing differences.  In the specific issue the post is talking about, Remender uses Scarlet Witch as essentially his mouthpiece to shut down Rogue who is kind of a strawman representation of his critics.  She’s portrayed as being overly emotional and presenting weak arguments (or poorly backed up arguments) so that Remender’s stand-in can easily knock them down.

On top of what Racialicious has brought up as the issues with Wanda’s arguments (the mutants do have a shared history, etc), I wanted to add some of my thoughts of why I think this entire argument of “don’t see differences and there will be no problems" that Remender’s posited (starting from Havoc, continuing through Wanda) is ridiculous and problematic.

To me I see at least 3 major issues that Mutants face (there may be more, but I want to just address these 3 for now):

Read More

cloverthebulldog:

Turns out, I don’t really like hardwood and tiled floors. I don’t have any traction and end up slipping and sliding all over the place! So, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time on the mats in the kitchen and by the front door. 

geekgirlvideo:

muskrat-john:

FAKE GEEK GIRL! FAKE GEEK GIRL!

one of our absolute favorite commentaries on the subject.

pickleandharveybulldogblog:

Harvey is thankful Pickle no longer has to wear the cone of shame

I just want to point out that in this movie, this character showed up at a friend’s house with like a dozen puppies to help her get her shit together. SHE IS A GREAT FRIEND.

who are you

come to my house

nohetero:

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

missvoltairine:

adventuresofcomicbookgirl:

Looks like this essay was needed, so I went ahead and did it. Not sure I said everything I wanted to say, but I tried.

So, there’s this girl. She’s tragically orphaned and richer than anyone on the planet. Every guy she meets falls in love with her, but in between torrid romances she rejects them all because she dedicated to what is Pure and Good. She has genius level intellect, Olympic-athelete level athletic ability and incredible good looks. She is consumed by terrible angst, but this only makes guys want her more. She has no superhuman abilities, yet she is more competent than her superhuman friends and defeats superhumans with ease. She has unshakably loyal friends and allies, despite the fact she treats them pretty badly.  They fear and respect her, and defer to her orders. Everyone is obsessed with her, even her enemies are attracted to her. She can plan ahead for anything and she’s generally right with any conclusion she makes. People who defy her are inevitably wrong.

 God, what a Mary Sue.

I just described Batman.

  Wish fulfillment characters have been around since the beginning of time. The good guys tend to win, get the girl and have everything fall into place for them. It’s only when women started doing it that it became a problem.

TV Tropes on the origin of Mary Sue:

The prototypical Mary Sue is an original female character in a fanfic who obviously serves as an idealized version of the author mainly for the purpose of Wish Fulfillment.

Notice the strange emphasis on female here. TV Tropes goes on to say that is took a long time for the male counterpart “Marty Stu” to be used. “Most fanfic writers are girls” is given as the reason. So when women dominate a genre, that means people are on close watch, ready to scorn any wish fulfillment they may engage in. This term could only originate if the default was female.

 In fact, one of the CONTROVERSIES listed on the TV Tropes page is if a male sue is even possible. That’s right, it’s impossible to have an idealizied male character. Men are already the ideal.

 In our culture, male tends to be the default. Women take on the distaff parts. “Him” and “mankind” are what humanity are, “her” and “womankind” are secondary. Yet this isn’t true for Mary Sue as a term. That name was created first. It was a Star Trek fic that coined it and the female desigination was likely a big reason it caught on. This female is name the default to use when describing idealized characters. Marty Stu and Gary Stu are only to be used if you’re discussing men specifically.  Heck, there isn’t even an agreed upon term for them. So the only time female can be default is when discussing a badly written character, someone who is more powerful or important or liked than they should be allowed to be, someone the plot focuses on more than you would like, someone you don’t want to read about. Hmmm.

 What’s really wrong with a thirteen year old girl having a power fantasy, even if it’s badly written?  Who is it hurting? Men have baldly admitted to writing power fantasies and self inserts since the beginning of time. How many nerdy, schlubby guys suddenly become badasses and have hot girls chasing after them in fiction? See: Spiderman- blatant everyman who happens to  stumble across amazing powers and catch the eye of a supermodel.  Mary Sue is considered the worst insult to throw at a character as it renders them worthless. But since when are idealized characters automatically worthless? Aren’t all heroes idealized in some way? Don’t all heroes represent the author in some way? Aren’t these characters supposed to be people we look up to, people who represent human potential, the goodness that we strive for? Fantasy by nature is idealized, even the tragic ones.

 If you look at the TV Tropes page for Mary Sue, it’s ridiculous. You can be a sue for having too many flaws, or not enough, for fixing things or messing things up, for being a hero or a villain. And of course, this is specifically pointed out as a trope related to the Princess and Magical Girl genres- genres aimed towards women are naturally full of Mary Sues.  Magical girls are powerful and heroic and actually flaunt femininity as a good thing. They are a power fantasy designed for girls. So of course, a girl using traditionally feminine traits to dominate and triumph means she’s a sickeningly pure Mary Sue who makes everything go their way. Feminine traits are disdained and look down on, so when the positive feminine traits are prominent, the reader has an aversive reaction. How can a character be so feminine and triumph? She must be unrealistic, she must be badly written, because everyone knows it is impossible to be feminine and powerful.

 Let’s look at what kinds of Mary Sues people will point to. People will claim a female character is a Mary Sue if she is a love interest. Put a female character within a foot of a male character, and people will scream “Mary Sue!” Why does someone falling in love with her make her a Mary Sue? Well, she hasn’t “earned” this awesome dude character’s love. What has she done to show she’s worthy of him? Fans miss the irony that this line of logic makes the male character seem more like the Sue in Question, as he’s apparently so perfect one has work for his coveted love and praise.

  The idea that woman has to “earn” any power, praise, love, or plot prominence is central to Mary Sue.  Men do not have to do this, they are naturally assumed to be powerful, central and loveable. That’s why it’s the first thing thrown at a female character- what has she done to be given the same consideration as a male character? Why is she suddenly usurping a male role? “Mary Sue” is the easiest way to dismiss a character. It sounds bad to say “I don’t like this female character. I don’t like that this woman is powerful. I don’t like it when the plot focuses on her. I don’t like that a character I like has affections for her.”  But “Mary Sue” is a way to say these things without really saying them. It gives you legitimacy.

 If a character is badly written, there’s generally something much more problematic than idealization going on. The plot will be dull and the character will perpetuate harmful stereotypes while other characters act oddly.  For instance, Bella Swan is one of the only characters I’d even begin to classify as a Mary Sue, yet it’s not really her supposed Mary Sue traits that bother me. I don’t mind that she gets what she wants and everyone loves her, that she’s Meyer’s power fantasy. What I actually mind is that Stephenie Meyer has her perpetuate harmful anti-woman stereotypes- women need to be protected, women are shallow, women’s worth rests in desirability. That’s what’s actually harmful about her and worth discussing. I would criticize that rather than even get to the fact Bella got to be “too perfect and powerful”- that’s just a tiny, insignificant thing not worth mentioning in a huge pile of problems.

 And that’s why I don’t call characters Mary Sue anymore. There’s really nothing bad about a power fantasy or wish fulfillment. It’s what’s fiction’s about.  If one of my characters is called a Sue, I’ll proudly say “yep”, because that must mean that she broke out of that box a female character is supposed to be in.  So I’ll go and say it: I love me some Mary Sues.

mary sues 4 lyfe

cuteanimalsbaddates:

Low self-esteem fish has low self-esteem. And also doesn’t understand quotation marks. 

took me three minutes to reblog because I was laughing too hard

Buckeye being a total snoremaddon