it is. sincerely really weird that 2016 nostalgia is a trend. like i knew this day would come but not for specifically 2016. the meme that year was about how this was the worst year ever for most people
ES IST VERRÜCKT 😛 WIE SCHÖN 🥰 DU SCHWEIGST 🤫 WIE DU DEIN HÜBSCHES 😻 KÖPFCHEN NEIGST 🙂↕️ UND SO DER GANZEN LAUTEN 🔊 WELT 🌍 UND MIR DIE KALTE 🥶 SCHULTER ZEIGST 🫵🏻
DEIN SCHWEIGEN 🤐 IST EIN ZELT ⛺️ STELLST ES MITTEN IN DIE WELT 🗺️ SPANNST DIE SCHNÜRE 🪢 UND STAUNST 😯 STUMM 🫢 WENN NACHTS 🌙 EIN MÄDCHEN 👧🏻 DRÜBER FÄLLT 📉
ZU DEINEN FÜSSEN🦶🏻RED 🗣️ ICH MICH UM KOPF 🧑🦲UND KRAGEN 👕 ICH WILL IN DEINE TIEFEN WASSER 💧 GROSSE WELLEN 🌊 SCHLAGEN 🥊
*Through tears and clenched teeth* …the emperor penguin has my vote. 😫
The little penguin is a Little Penguin and it is blue and it rips something out of my soul to vote against the Tiny Little Friend -
But: the emperor penguin is the best bird here.
They are such ubiquitous cliches at this point that so much they do can just be passed off as “typical penguin” but - these things are INSANE.
One of only 5 penguins that live in antarctica, only 2 that live exclusively on the Antarctic continent, and the ONLY penguin to breed in the Antarctic winter. They are so iconic they’ve convinced the world “penguins live in antarctica, duh” when really this is Crazy Behavior
To acheive this crazy feat they trek absurd distances, go through months of fasting, and carry out one of the most dedicated and coordinated feats of parental care and partner cooperation in the animal kingdom. They have ONE egg, one of the smallest to body size of any bird, and they go through all that. And they do it together…
And then there’s how they look: The pose. The presence. The sleek colours and artful gradients, standing out agaist the antarctic wasteland. The iconic image of a group of them huddled together against the wind. Even their CHICKS are elegant.
They’ve been so done to death at this point that little penguins feel like the worthy underdog choice. But we can’t lose site of how much emperor penguins have earned their fame. They are iconic for a REASON
Also: vote emperor penguin for five year old me, who when it got cold and icy would sometimes spend recess shuffling dramatically across the frozen soccer field against the wind, imagining she was a mother penguin sheltering her chick on a great trek across the icy wasteland. What other bird can have that impact??
I just saw an acquaintance use “👖🛝” in place of the word genocide and. like. at what point are we going to decide that this kind of self-censorship is too degrading to abide anymore.
“grape” “sui-slide” “the panini” I feel like I’m surrounded by Rugrats who overheard the grown ups talking about the news.
This is mean, but when I’m in a safe context to do so, I love pretending I don’t understand what they mean and forcing them to explain in plain language.
It’s not mean. You are so normal. If someone uses these terms when speaking to me directly I’m going to end up on the news.
I call this collection of screenshots “idiots of /r/whatsthatbook”.
And finally, my go-to example for Tiktokese/ridiculous unnecessary self-censoring:
love how when people go to europe they’ll say the country and when people go to the usa they’ll say the state and when people go to asia they’ll say the country and when people go to south america they’ll say the country but when people go to africa they go to africa. like ok bru. wow. the entire thing? impressive
“when my dad was in spain last summer…” ok “when i was backpacking around thailand…” cool “back when i visited florida…’” nice “my sister’s in africa right now–” BROTHER WHERE
My favorite thing about this topic as an African is when people ask me where I’m from and I say I’m from Cape Verde (then I usually have to explain that it’s an archipelago near the Senegalese coasts) and then they answer with something along the lines of “omg my cousin did a road trip in Kenya!” And I just have to stand there are try to explain to them that the distance between CV and Kenya is around the distance between the USA and Bolivia or Pakistan and f#%! France. Westerners just know nothing about African geography and/or cultures and it often leads to awkward or racist situations.