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Reading, Writing & Doctor Who

@cfornia-fangirl

A place to gather together the things I love...come along! (Pond)

Remember that this is not the proof that they love each other

That was a last-ditch attempt from Crowley to get Aziraphale to stay

This is the proof that they love each other

Their love wasn't just made real because they kissed

It always existed

Hi Wil, I am trying to track down an episode of TNG. It's the one where the Enterprise encounters some people who only speak in metaphors related to their own mythological narratives. It takes the crew some time to work out how to communicate with them. I can't remember the name of the episode or even which season... do you know which one I'm talking about? It's for an essay I'm working on in my Māori language class.

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It’s called Darmok, and it’s still great to watch. Temba, his arms wide.

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One of my very favorite eps. Darmok and Jilad. At Tenagra.

So, this happened. Bill Maher, renowned liberal commentator and “realist” who believes Islam is a religion of aggression and violence, took a jab at former One Direction member Zayn Malik during an episode of his HBO show. Look, Zayn is a 22-year-old British-Pakistani from a Muslim family and what Maher made was a tired, low joke that put a hardworking brown musician’s face next to that of a known terrorist who just happens to kind of look like Zayn. It’s appalling. It’s offensive. It’s disgusting.

Shame on you, Bill Maher. Shame on you, HBO. Shame on the producers and writers who came up with this joke. Shame on the audience members who clapped along in agreement. By the way, nice try to make it seem like Maher had no idea how to tell the One Direction boys apart in an attempt to make it seem like this wasn’t about race or religion. Maher is a vocal atheist and has an obvious vendetta against Islam. As an agnostic Muslim, a liberal, and a Pakistani, I have no problems with that. I think he sometimes has a point but often comes off as a bigot when he’s trying to make it, and that may be because he is one. It’s important that we make noise. Less than two months ago, 23-year-old med student Deah Barakat, his wife Yusor (21) and her sister Razan were murdered in their home by an atheist neighbor. Their murder has highlighted growing xenophobia in America that the media has been trying to sweep under the rug. That same month, a 57-year-old Indian man was beaten and paralyzed by police in Alabama while taking a stroll around the neighborhood. But we didn’t hear about these people as much as we should have; these stories spun out of news cycles and have been forgotten. If the races and religions were reversed, I can assure you, this would not have been the case. What Bill Maher is doing is dangerous. He’s perpetuating the myth that any young, brown-skinned, dark-haired, dark-eyed man or woman with ties to the Indian subcontinent is worthy of suspicion. Having lived in the US myself, it’s a special treat when you’re led to a special room at the airport on your arrival, for “further registration,” to find that all other occupants of the room are people with skin of the same/darker color as/than yours. We have brown skin, and we have dreams. We are doctors, engineers, taxi drivers, musicians, lawyers, bankers, and so much more. We are human beings. We are here to do good. Stop demonizing us. Stop holding us responsible for the crimes we didn’t commit. STOP CALLING US TERRORISTS, YOU RACIST PRICK. And for the record, Maher: on April 15, 2013, Zayn Malik was in the UK on tour with One Direction.

The problem with being a writer is that you have to be your characters.

You can’t write a charming character by saying they’re charming, you actually need to be charming and write them charming dialog. You can’t just state somebody is smart, you need to write smart things for them to say and do.

Otherwise known as "show don't tell". Yeah.

Gosh, that part in Much Ado About Nothing when Beatrice and Benedick read each other’s secret love letters and admit their in love is always so cute. But, like, too cute. 

That’s more like it. That’s the response I’d expect of two hyper-critical sarcastic dorks in love.

This is why the Tennant/Tate version is the very best. #andthepaintscene

Famous Failures

I stumbled upon this video a long time ago and it honestly made me feel a lot better.

“If you’ve never failed, you’ve never lived.”

I could not fit everyone mentioned in the video in this post so be sure to give the video a look.

When celebrities read mean tweets about themselves, it’s funny. When homeless people do it, it’s heartbreaking.

In a powerful PSA by Canadian advocacy group Raising the Roof, people who are dealing with homelessness read actual tweets written about those living without stable shelter. See all of the emotional reactions here. 

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ishotgunnedabeerandwentbacktobed

This breaks my heart

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