the bear | s2e2

requested by anon

SAMBUCKY APPRECIATION WEEK | LYRICS/QUOTES ↳ sambucky + tumblr tags bonus:

when two musicians sing into the same microphone and lean in very close to each other... like omg are you guys gonna kiss now to relieve the homoerotic tension?😳

THIS IS NOT ABOUT ONE DIRECTION I DON'T KNOW WHO THIS "HARRY" PERSON IS GO WATCH BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND CLARENCE CLEMONS KISS ON STAGE RIGHT NOW

op is the only valid person i’ve ever met. everyone else needs to come to the light

Okay, but this is really important: Bruce Springsteen occupied this really weird place in music history. His songs were all from this pessimistic, nihilistic view of an America that had let him down:

Just like the anti-Vietnam War protest songs that we associate with the 1960s, or the early nihilism that spawned punk music in the 1970s. But he didn't *sound* like a punk anarchist; he sounded like a country rock singer. When he released Born in the U.S.A. people completely misinterpreted (or possibly ignored) the lyrics in favor of the tone of the music.

Politicians used his music to promote their 'Murica Yes! brand, and he had to literally explain that that was not what he was about. He's over here asking when we're going to have jobs and heathcare, not stanning the politicians who weren't helping the people.

It was also kind of a big deal that he had an integrated band, because even as late as the 1980s music was still kind of segregated and MTV was straight up racist. They refused to play and promote black artists and then claimed that were no black artists in the first place. Michael Jackson's record company had to threaten a boycott of their white artists to get MTV to play his Thriller video.

Plus, the first black/white interracial kiss on TV was in 1968 (OG Star Trek). Also it took us until the 70s to get sympathetic gay characters on screen, and the 90s to get gay characters to kiss onscreen. And all of those firsts were met with outrage.

So keep that in mind when you see Bruce Springsteen not just playing with an interracial band, but engaging in an interracial, gay kiss on stage repeatedly.

Passages from American Popular Music by Larry Starr and Christopher Waterman

holy shit

F A S C I N A T I N G

Remember “American Skin (41 Bullets)”, the song he wrote about the police shooting of Amadou Diallo? It led to a widespread boycott of his music by various police groups. The Boss doesn’t fuck around.

I hope this cat didnt kill any of those birds .

wow you actually found a practical use for that reaction image

holy shit

Reblog if you think it’s okay to platonically say “I Love You” to your friends

Slams the reblog button so damn fast

i can’t wait for celebrity culture and worship to go extinct <3

this movie is so fucking creepy jesus fuck

It’s by Tim Burton, what did you honestly expect?

Actually, it’s Henry Selick, who was the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas. The book was written by Neil Gaiman, though, and is far…far….worse.

Sorry, I’m about to geek the hell out.

The movie is captivating, but the book is twenty kinds of terrifying, even now, ten years after I first read it. As disturbing as the movie may have been to some, the things Selick added really serve to cushion just how horrific the story really is.

First of all, the character of Wybie does not exist in the book. Coraline is facing all of this nearly alone, with her only help coming from the sly comments of the cat, a warning from the circus mice, and the stone given to her by her neighbor, presented with no comment but that it “makes the unseen seen.”

Second, the Other Parents are never quite as warm (and, dare I say, normal) as they are in the gifs above. They’re described as having paper-white skin and the Other Mother’s hair is said to move on its own, and her long, red, claw-like nails don’t ease any uncertainty that she is absolutely, positively up to no good. The first time Coraline meets them, they (and the rest of the Others) seem to be playing roles (for whatever reason, Coraline does not seem to pick up on this), like they all know what to say and what to do and are simply waiting for Coraline to make her move in their terrifying play world. This is shown to be partly true when the Other Parents tell her they know she’ll be back soon after she refuses the buttons - this time, to stay.

Third, the Other Mother commits atrocities that really should not have been in a book for anyone not fully grown up. She physically deforms the world around Coraline to slow her progress in their game beyond any mild traps the movie portrays, and, instead of turning the Other Father into the wandering pumpkin-thing seen in the film, she simply ceases to use him and throws his body away in the cellar, leaving him to rot with whatever bit of sentience he has left. She begins to lose her touch, as Coraline gains the upper hand. Her world doesn’t just become a nightmare - it falls apart completely. No creepy but oddly cool bug furniture here, just the house that now appears to be a child’s drawing. Whatever the Other Mother is (a beldame, but something tells me she’s much more ancient and powerful than that), she does not give half a hump about what she has to do to ensnare Coraline. Destroy the supporting characters of her twisted creation? Done. Allow herself to be dismembered to ruin Coraline’s life in the normal world? Not even gonna bat an eyelash.

On a final, personal note, imagine eight year-old me, ignored by my parents, absorbed in the story and identifying with Coraline from the start. Imagine me finishing this bloodcurdling book and immediately thinking of my basement, where there is still a locked door that my grandmother swears up and down is nothing more than a storage room, but has not once in my (or my mother’s) lifetime unlocked.

Can you see why this book still scares me?

Fun fact I learned from seeing neil gaiman speak: when he first wanted the book published, his editor said it was too scary. He suggested she read it to her young daughter, and then decide. So she did, and her daughter wasn’t afraid, and it was published. Years later, Gaiman was sitting next to that daughter at an event and told her this story, and she said “oh I was terrified I just didn’t want to tell my mom”.

Coraline WAS too scary to be published, but exists anyway because a girl lied to her mother.

@neil-gaiman, is this true about the publisher’s daughter?

It was my literary agent, Merrilee Heifetz who read it and said “you can’t seriously expect this to be published as a children’s book.” So I suggested she read it to her daughters. And she called me back a week later and said “They love it and they weren’t scared at all. I’ll take it to Harper Children’s.”

A decade later, at the Opening Night of the Coraline musical, I was sitting next to Morgan, Merilee’s youngest daughter, and told her how her not being scared had made the book happen. And she said “I was terrified. But I needed to find out what happened next. So nobody knew.”

So, yes.

This website can be toxic at times, but the fact that people can just tag Neil Gaiman to get his input, like a sorcerer invoking a benevolent spirit, is definitely a bright spot.

I encourage everyone to buy the audiobook. The songs the rats sing will haunt you for the rest of your days. Perfect for October entertainment.

If you were arrested for protesting in Chicago, Indianapolis, or Louisville, the law firm of Derrick Morgan Jr, Esq will represent you pro bono

Here is a thread of lawyers and law firms representing protesters pro bono

also donate to local free legal aid organizations, because as great as it is that these lawyers are providing free services rn, many legal aid orgs already provide free services every day to people who can’t afford to pay for legal help, and rely entirely on donations. bail is important but its only step one in what will be for many a very long and expensive legal process. there are often dozens or more in each state so i wont compile a list but you can easily find the ones in your area by googling. and dont forget about the legal aid orgs geared towards immigrants, because many protestors may face deportation or other retaliation that jeapordizes their ability to stay in the US.

You’re right! Here are two that I’ve found:

Legal Defense Initiative of Know Your Rights Camp: Created by Colin Kaepernick and focused on getting legal resources and lawyers to protesters in Minneapolis

NAACP Legal Defense Fund: legal aid fund dedicated to fighting for racial justice

Guys please add on more if you know any!!

Two more I’ve found:

Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project by Transgender Law Center:  Project dedicated to ensuring “the liberation of all Black people through community-building, political education, creating access to direct services, and organizing across borders”. You can also check out and donate to the other projects the Transgender Law Center has on their website (linked).

Baltimore Legal Action Team:  Dedicated to legal action that “serves grassroots movements” and promotes race equity.

I know it’s been a while but the protests are still going on and Derrick Morgan Jr. Esq now has a pro bono legal fund so uh

(insp.)

Here is the full statement. Notice the related articles at the bottom.

And they’re not kidding, they actually got arrested in 2016 at a protest in Philadelphia

Christopher Robert Evans don’t do that with your eyes 

Intimacy isn’t just experienced through sex. It’s crying together. It’s whispering late at night. It’s talking about growing up and what used to scare you. It’s going places that remind you of your childhood. It’s feeling each other without touching. It’s exchanging energy.