wild mice have the ability to levitate but seldom use it due to it being considered impolite by mouse standards, and also it making you visible to predators.
domesticated mice had the ability deliberately bred out because it was hard manufacturing tether harnesses that small, and they kept getting stuck in the ceiling
please god stop talking about diets and weight loss in front of kids. especially if those kids are girls. and especially if you’re someone those kids look up to. but really just stop talking about about diets and weight loss when children are in earshot at all. I promise you you’re doing far more harm than good.
Among the five kids in the family, Vlastislava is the most bored one. The kits and Belomor can keep themselves busy, Byuana follows the adults around, and Vlastislava? She really needs playmates.
So when everyone in the cult is busy with their tasks, Aym, Baal and Ratau are there to take the responsibility of playing with Vlastya.
And, of course, many of her games are a little violent. She’s seen and heard more things from her bishop family than she probably should have.
“People don’t understand the word ruthless. They think it means ‘mean.’ It’s not about being mean. It’s about seeing the bright, clear line that leads from A to B. The line that goes from motive to means. Beginning to end. It’s about seeing that bright, clear line and not caring about anything but the beautiful fact that you can see the solution. Not caring about anything else but the perfection of it.”
- Marco, Book #30: The Reunion, pg. 71 (by K.A. Applegate)
just saw a furry go “ugh pup masks are the worst thing to happen to the furry community” and it’s like what are you talking about those are your cousins, at the end of the day you’re both pretending to be gay dog men, i think it’s just an aesthetic choice at that point
im watching a speedrun of some dumb “backrooms” game and this tutorial tip it gives you is killing me
ALT
the youtube monsters they added to the backrooms watching me drink almond water
For those wondering why almond water, earlier stories about the backrooms mention an almond smell. Now a bunch of people who don’t know how to do horror well seem to have jumped to the idea that this almond smell is some magic cure all almond water
It should be noted that an almond smell is a common sign of cyanide which flew over those people’s heads
Ppl on the other hellsite losing their minds over this in every imaginable direction lmao
some further thoughts on this:
I do think that a factor here willl be that (for whatever reason) this guy’s students have become less likely to lie about their favourite book.
there’s some kind of major irony in the fact that the majority of people responding to this haven’t read the entire article BUT also that a lot of them couldn’t if they wanted to bcos its fucking paywalled. here it is:
the TL DR is that the article is primarily about the fact that increasingly college students are struggling w the reading material they’ve been given, w longer books, and with ‘challenging’ books that used to be normal assigned reading. the above excerpt is just a closing anecdote.
important to note here that the issue is not that Percy Jackson is fantasy or that it’s 'lowbrow’ literature, it’s specifically that it’s a book for children.
unlike with other categories like genre, there are actual mechanical differences between children’s literature and adult literature. books for children use simpler prose & vocabulary because children are generally still learning to read. there’s a whole technical side to it that i don’t fully understand! but it’s that 'easy read’ aspect of them which is relevant, not anything to do w their relative quality.
Neither of my children’s high schools had a library.
Indie bookstores mostly collapsed with the rise of Borders, Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble - and those mostly collapsed with the rise of Amazon.
Used bookstores collapsed faster; they were always operating on a shoestring. I used to get 5 romances for a dollar at thrift stores; those kinds of sales aren’t around anymore.
Children now have the whole internet to poke at from a very young age. Books are static, non-interactive items with few or no pictures. Of course younger kids are drawn to video and tweets more than books.
…They need encouragement and support to switch from what’s easy to absorb (videos, tiny text posts, image memes) to what takes concentration and time. (Or they need to just be obsessed with text. Those of us who fell in love with the act of reading are still doing books.)
and then…
publishers decided to really, really go all-in on YA books.
In part because of the success of Harry Potter. In part because that’s their target audience for movies 5-10 years from now. In part because the target audience is forgiving of flaws like “plot holes” and “cliched characters” and “overused tropes” - they haven’t read enough to notice those problems. (Not that they all have those issues, but a YA book can still be financially successful with them, in ways that adult literature often can’t.) Oh, and in part, because it’s easy to insist those books be “family friendly,” meaning, no heavy content about sex or drugs or racism or homophobia or even women’s rights, so they can sell them everywhere rather than having to figure out who the actual audience is and pitching to those people.
The target READERS of YA books are teens.
The target BUYERS of YA books are parents.
Teens can’t buy books. (Teens can buy books in stores. They can’t buy books online, because they don’t have credit cards. Most sales are not in stores anymore.)
Teens who grow up with their parents buying them books online have no idea where and how to buy adult books. And often, no way to develop an interest in them - you can’t browse Amazon like you can a bookstore or a library. You can’t say “show me all the fantasy books with authors whose last names begin with R” - there is no “what’s next to Rick Riordan on the shelf?” What’s “next to Rick Riordan” at Amazon is more Rick Riordan, and whatever spinoff series exist, and whatever fantasy books have the same keywords.
Searching Amazon for Rick Riordan, or just Riordan, will not get you to The Coming of the Walrus: What Really Happened in the 60s by James Riordan. (Is it any good? I dunno. But teens looking for something new to read are going to find Rick Riordan Presents novels, not adult fantasy.)
Schools are going to need an entirely different approach to reading if they want to instill lifelong reading habits, because the current systems were based on the premise that people read for entertainment.
Some people still do. But you don’t need to. You will never run out of video entertainment options anymore, and that wasn’t true just 20 years ago.
Schools are going to need an entirely different approach to reading if they want to instill lifelong reading habits, because the current systems were based on the premise that people read for entertainment.
THIS PART. And unfortunately the way we’re teaching reading and English has not caught up to this new reality. Kids have drastically lower reading skills than they used to, and the curriculum isn’t making up the difference - it’s just teaching at the level we think the students should be harder, as if we can make them better readers through force of will. And any suggestion that maybe we should slow down, give them more time to absorb the material, and give them space to learn how to enjoy reading, is met with accusations that we’re not helping them succeed.
It’s not likely to instill a love of reading. It’s likely to instill frustration and resentment, and to link those emotions to reading.
Ppl on the other hellsite losing their minds over this in every imaginable direction lmao
some further thoughts on this:
I do think that a factor here willl be that (for whatever reason) this guy’s students have become less likely to lie about their favourite book.
there’s some kind of major irony in the fact that the majority of people responding to this haven’t read the entire article BUT also that a lot of them couldn’t if they wanted to bcos its fucking paywalled. here it is:
the TL DR is that the article is primarily about the fact that increasingly college students are struggling w the reading material they’ve been given, w longer books, and with ‘challenging’ books that used to be normal assigned reading. the above excerpt is just a closing anecdote.
important to note here that the issue is not that Percy Jackson is fantasy or that it’s 'lowbrow’ literature, it’s specifically that it’s a book for children.
unlike with other categories like genre, there are actual mechanical differences between children’s literature and adult literature. books for children use simpler prose & vocabulary because children are generally still learning to read. there’s a whole technical side to it that i don’t fully understand! but it’s that 'easy read’ aspect of them which is relevant, not anything to do w their relative quality.
Neither of my children’s high schools had a library.
Indie bookstores mostly collapsed with the rise of Borders, Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble - and those mostly collapsed with the rise of Amazon.
Used bookstores collapsed faster; they were always operating on a shoestring. I used to get 5 romances for a dollar at thrift stores; those kinds of sales aren’t around anymore.
Children now have the whole internet to poke at from a very young age. Books are static, non-interactive items with few or no pictures. Of course younger kids are drawn to video and tweets more than books.
…They need encouragement and support to switch from what’s easy to absorb (videos, tiny text posts, image memes) to what takes concentration and time. (Or they need to just be obsessed with text. Those of us who fell in love with the act of reading are still doing books.)
and then…
publishers decided to really, really go all-in on YA books.
In part because of the success of Harry Potter. In part because that’s their target audience for movies 5-10 years from now. In part because the target audience is forgiving of flaws like “plot holes” and “cliched characters” and “overused tropes” - they haven’t read enough to notice those problems. (Not that they all have those issues, but a YA book can still be financially successful with them, in ways that adult literature often can’t.) Oh, and in part, because it’s easy to insist those books be “family friendly,” meaning, no heavy content about sex or drugs or racism or homophobia or even women’s rights, so they can sell them everywhere rather than having to figure out who the actual audience is and pitching to those people.
The target READERS of YA books are teens.
The target BUYERS of YA books are parents.
Teens can’t buy books. (Teens can buy books in stores. They can’t buy books online, because they don’t have credit cards. Most sales are not in stores anymore.)
Teens who grow up with their parents buying them books online have no idea where and how to buy adult books. And often, no way to develop an interest in them - you can’t browse Amazon like you can a bookstore or a library. You can’t say “show me all the fantasy books with authors whose last names begin with R” - there is no “what’s next to Rick Riordan on the shelf?” What’s “next to Rick Riordan” at Amazon is more Rick Riordan, and whatever spinoff series exist, and whatever fantasy books have the same keywords.
Searching Amazon for Rick Riordan, or just Riordan, will not get you to The Coming of the Walrus: What Really Happened in the 60s by James Riordan. (Is it any good? I dunno. But teens looking for something new to read are going to find Rick Riordan Presents novels, not adult fantasy.)
Schools are going to need an entirely different approach to reading if they want to instill lifelong reading habits, because the current systems were based on the premise that people read for entertainment.
Some people still do. But you don’t need to. You will never run out of video entertainment options anymore, and that wasn’t true just 20 years ago.
Schools are going to need an entirely different approach to reading if they want to instill lifelong reading habits, because the current systems were based on the premise that people read for entertainment.
THIS PART. And unfortunately the way we’re teaching reading and English has not caught up to this new reality. Kids have drastically lower reading skills than they used to, and the curriculum isn’t making up the difference - it’s just teaching at the level we think the students should be harder, as if we can make them better readers through force of will. And any suggestion that maybe we should slow down, give them more time to absorb the material, and give them space to learn how to enjoy reading, is met with accusations that we’re not helping them succeed.
It’s not likely to instill a love of reading. It’s likely to instill frustration and resentment, and to link those emotions to reading.
As an eye doctor, this shouldn’t be controversial. It’s a problem. 5 years ago, nighttime headlight issues were reserved for people with cataracts or LASIK scars. Today, everyone has problems seeing the road through the oncoming headlights. People are getting anti-glare and blueblocking coatings not bc they are sitting on a computer 8+ hours a day but bc the blue tinted halogens are making them feel unsafe to drive. We are selling insane amounts of yellow tinted nighttime driving glasses even though they’re really only for people with cataracts bc ppl are desperate for anything that may help them deal with the headlights. I’ve had multiple patients tell me they just don’t drive at night anymore.
This is an actual safety issue and it needs to be addressed
[Image ID: Tweet from verified user Jack Crosbie (@/ jscros) on 12/11/21 reading: maybe a controversial take but car headlights are too bright these days. every single SUV is equipped with like military grade halogen retina destroyers. jeep grand cherokee drivin around with the 9/11 memorial spotlights on the front. lighthouse-ass chevy tahoes. grow up /End ID]
Of the friendships Narinder makes out of imprisonment, I’d like to think he visits Chemach while she’s in her chains (and Kuudai and Clauneck) occasionally to talk about Old God stuff
You know that post that was going around like a year ago. That said something like ‘hey you don’t need to wear any makeup’ and people kept commenting shit like 'yeah just a little eyeliner is enough’. This is how this post feels to me
Yes, having opposed Conservative plans for surveillance of the bank accounts of benefits claimants, now they’re in government Labour’s ableist ghouls have decided to put these proposals back on the table.
This would basically mean anyone claiming benefits - disabled people, people in low-paid and insecure employment, pensioners - would be treated as a likely criminal. Our bank accounts would be subject to surveillance. The discriminatory and invasive nature of these proposals should be clear to anyone. Labour’s bottom line is, if you’re disabled, if you’re elderly and in need, if you’re poor, you’re suspect.
If you’re in the UK, please sign and share this petition. If you’re not in the UK, please share it anyway for reach. We need to kick up an absolute stink about this so that Starmer’s ghouls are forced to back down.
[ID: tags which read “#promising "that no automatic decisions will be made based on data alone #ok but #"data AND” is ok then? Imao already is for them #also they’re like “dont worry! the DWP wont have direct access to your bank account! itll be a third party service!” #cannot wait for someone’s bezzie mate to be given the contract and IMMEDIATELY SUFFER A DATA BREACH #I’d honest to god rather it was the DWP directly at that point because its still a worse case scenario but. a 0.0001% better one". End ID]
They keep eating the same freaking food and it frustrates me so much! We can’t have the “big scary light” on just lamps everywhere! Even when I try to find peace by doing stuff with them they just ignore me and do whatever they want. They can’t even do the simplest of things like go with me to the grocery store every week! How do people expect them to survive in society??
Autistics living together:
So as long as we get my 10 packets of this really specific food, and some snacks, I’ll be okay. Also is it cool if you go to the grocery store? I can clean the bathroom since thats bad sensory for you and the store is bad sensory for me. Can you turn on the lamp instead of the big light? It gives me a headache. Thanks man. Yea I’ll unplug the TV for you since you can hear the high pitched noise. Do you want to do two separate things in the same room as bonding again this evening? Thats my favorite part of the day too.
[Image ID: Picture from US Vice President debate on Oct 1, 2024. Moderator Margaret Brennan says: Just to clarify, Springfield’s Haitian migrants have legal status. Candidate JD Vance says: The rules were you guys weren’t going to fact check! /End ID]
I also jacked off twice today. You wanna FaceTime for round three?
not before I go do my deadlifts. I’ve got 406 lbs, 4 reps, 9 sets today.
Have a great time! :)
“That should be long enough for me to jack off at least two more times. He’ll stand no chance against my empty balls and desensitized dick. I’ll be sure to win this session.”
Thanks bestie, I will!
“If he were Kira, he’d likely to use this time to jack off again… No… Maybe several times. It would be wise to bring my stroker with me to the gym so I can get at least another load out between sets. Such a dangerous foe, one can never be too cautious.”
so I started a new anxiety medication this past week and so far it’s been going very well except that I have extremely vivid dreams and apparently sleep texting. I seem to have sent this at 3am and i have no memory of it
“I’m going to drive through Appalachia, should I be scared of the inbred hill folk and the cryptids? 😱😱😱😱” no bitch, be scared of sliding off a mountain into a valley and not being found for months or years.
they’re going to be insinuating Bigfoot got you in YouTube docs while your Ford Taurus is upside down at the bottom of a mountain
The Western US has guard rails everywhere they could possibly be needed, but in Appalachia, guard rails are for sissies
I think a lot of us would like to have guard rails. It’s not a matter of pride but a matter of infamously shitty and neglected civil infrastructure in Appalachia as a product of local corruption and perpetual state underfunding.
In 1977, the mayor of Vulcan West Virginia wrote to the Soviet Union and East Germany requesting foreign aid to replace the only bridge leading into town, an old swinging footbridge that had collapsed. This was the final straw that forced the West Virginia Legislature to cough up $1.3 million dollars to replace the bridge. Not the fact residents had been fording the river or using unsecured crossings to get to their homes for two years, the bad press generated by a Soviet journalist visiting the area to assess the situation.
It’s been almost 50 years since that and to be honest not much has changed. A lot of the bridges that would have been considered unsound at that time are still up and being driven over everyday.
Driving on poorly maintained roads over flat land is scary enough but driving on a poorly maintained, cracked, potholed, far too narrow road up the side of a mountain with a sheer drop and no guard rail is enough to give anyone a panic attack. Driving over 125+ year old, narrow, rusty one lane bridges that span rushing rocky rivers is something you SHOULD be scared of in Appalachia.
I love that mayor. He’s my new hero. The BALLS you’d need to do that during the Cold War.
I totally understand why the infrastructure issues are dominating the comments but can we also talk about the stereotype that this hypothetical person believes about the PEOPLE and called them “inbred hill folk” like WTF 🙄🙄🙄
In my experience, the hill folk are often quite nice and not significantly more inbred than the average person.
Actually, the inbred hill folk stereotype has its roots in bigoted negative beliefs about West Virginia specifically, which is especially odd because West Virginia actually has stricter anti-consanguinity laws than many other US states. A lot of Americans would sooner believe a whole state suffers from dysgenic illness than consider the possibility of structural causes.
I’m Appalachian and there is a great degree of consanguinity in my bloodline and inherited genetic illness, not because we enjoy cousinfucking heartily but because my family lived in the same isolated area for 250 years and married into the same 6 nearby families. This is, of course, improving in the modern day. When you live in an area of rough terrain in a small rural community and you’re dirt poor with no way out, your only marital prospect may be your 3rd cousin and this may go on long enough for it to become a problem genetically speaking. This occurs in a lot of isolated communities, due to geographical isolation or social isolation due to bigotry. It’s not a mark of failing morals or backwardsness, it was born out of survival.
Also, this stereotype makes it really, really hard for survivors of incest to get help. Appalachian people are afraid of conforming to a stereotype. Plenty of Black people are convinced incest is a white person thing and that it doesn’t happen to Black people, which makes it harder to find a therapist or get sympathy.
Incest can occur in any group and isn’t more common in any demographic.
It’s really traumatic for the survivors and their families.
Please, please stop making incest jokes. It’s objectively, provably harmful.
Men will literally study Paracelsus, translate 1600s alchemical texts and distill potions for melancholy before going to therapy
Ok but legit the actual video is so good and goes pretty in depth of how they actually did it. It was a “potion for melancholy” and he explains some history behind it, including how much knowledge they really did have about certain plants and herbs and the benefits behind them. It goes into the process of This Particular way of extracting those plants properties(oils and stuff I think through distillation??). Pleeaaaaase go watch it if it sounds even slightly interesting to you. And he also does really try it.
Honestly just go listen to some of his videos. He’s great.
This is my legit favorite YouTuber. His entire channel is scholarly discussions on ancient and medieval religions, magic, the occult, and philosophy. he literally has a PhD in this stuff and provides a ton of information on how to find resources for further reading on topics
very, very often i delete large chunks of text before i submit my posts. you mother fuckers ought to be grateful that i care about dashboard etiquette, otherwise the deluge of near meaningless rhetorical meandering would NEVER see its end.
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