Aelin Galathynius - Throne of Glass

Artist: @hatchatwork for @/dirtydictiondesigns

Source

teetotailer

first incidence of good writing advice i've seen in 10+ years on this platform and it's in the notes of a mustelid wreaking absolute havoc in a german grocery store

i keep thinking about thjs and laughing ao hard my stomach hurts

here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n17B_uFF4cA 

for the love of god please watch the video i am in stiches

did strong bad make this

Update:

Helix S2 extra scene from the Bluray edition featuring Sergio and Anana

Tread here.

The best part is OP got fired because their boss asked why they weren’t “incorporating blockchain technology” into the video switcher they were building and OP straight up said “you have no idea what you’re talking about” and went to lunch

Mammals both produce milk and have hair. Ergo, a coconut is a mammal.

I know you’re being facetious, but this is an actual issue with morphology-based phylogeny.

*leans over and whispers to person beside me* what are they talking about

*leans over and whispers back*  Human ability to quantify and categorize natural phenomena is sketchy at best and wildly misleading at worst

consider the coconut

this reminds me of that time Plato defined humans as “featherless bipeds” and Diogenes ran in with a plucked chicken screaming “BEHOLD A MAN!”

i love how you say “it reminds me of that time” like you were there.

listen if an immortal feels brave and supported enough to come out we should respect them

This post is a journey

1 Reblog = 1 Respect

I maintain that humans started attempting classify animals, and some god or another made the platypus, and is still laughing.

Zeus: *hits joint* okay so like. It’s gonna have a duck bill right. But an otter body okay? And then a beaver tail. It’s a mammal. But. It lays eggs!

Hades: wait wait dude. Give it. Give it poison. Make it poisonous

Athena: You mean venomous, and make sure the eggs have both reptile and bird traits. Hermes: *takes the joint* Give it extra senses. Poseidon: It should be aquatic.

I MEAN where’s the lie

Demeter: … And where exactly do you expect me to put this? Everyone: Australia.

Nothing is going to change. Americans love their guns more than they love people and after Sandy Hook we decided that killing over 20 children was acceptable and not outrageous enough to make reasonable restrictions on guns. This is America, a country that has been around for 200 years, a superpower, a 1st world nation, and one of the wealthiest countries on the planet and we refuse to protect our own people. We respect guns more than we respect the lives of people. 

What specific gun control measures would you propose and how would they directly and effectively make society safer?

Can you show me evidence that this would directly and effectively create a safer society?

I have never laughed so hard at a gun law post. Like seriously, the evidence is in fucking reality. The proposed restrictions are just fucking logic.

For the most part I agree with these.  However I would respectfully ask, how would you take into accounts areas where having a gun is valid for self-protection, such as very rural areas in Alaska?  And how does keeping the gun only the premise allow for hunting (for example, I don’t hunt in my apartment, but several thousand miles away from my house)?

I can answer that one. I lived in Australia for eight years. If you lived in an area where you legitimately needed a gun to protect yourself or your property (for example, farmers in rural areas who had to deal with potentially dangerous animals), you could apply for a special permit. If an investigation confirmed that your need for a gun was legitimate, you would be given permission to buy a hunting rifle. But the permit had to be renewed, so if you sold the farm or otherwise no longer needed the gun, you would have to hand it back in.  (The government would reimburse you for it.)

It was simple, effective, and meant that the only guns in civilian hands were on farms a fuckmillion miles away from the cities and were actually being used for constructive purposes, not just collecting dust in a closet, waiting for some curious five year old to find them and blow their own heads off.

As for hunting weapons: you don’t bring them into the city. You keep them in a storage locker close to the hunting reserve.

People here own guns.  They just have to have a valid reason to do so, be trained to use them, and must store and transport them safely. 

The other day a rifle was discharged in my street.  It was used by a volunteer wildlife rescue worker to euthanise a badly injured kangaroo.  He kept it in a locked case in his truck until he determined there was no way to save the animal.  He retrieved it, fired it once, returned it to its case and then phoned the local police department to let them know that he had discharged a firearm and why he’d done so, because it’s a semi-rural area and most people are like me.  It was the first time, in my 20+ years of living in Australia, that I’ve ever seen a gun fired for anything other than practice.

The gun was there to do a very specific job.  And when that job was done, it was put away.  Zero fuss

Another prime example of a place with strict gun controls that has only had eight mass shootings in the last 20 years:

Can confirm: I had my firearms license. I had to do a 2-day class where we covered safety and laws, and then we had to do a written test. I also had to fill out paperwork and have it signed by guarantors (similar to getting a passport).

And that’s not even to OWN a gun, that’s just to have a license. If I recall correctly, you still can’t carry a handgun around on you all higgedly-piggedly just because you have a license. You have to have a legal job that requires a reason for carrying it, otherwise it’s illegal.  

Gun control works. Dozens of countries have it and most of them have had less than 10 mass shootings in the past 20 years. In the US, we’ve had over 20 mass shootings in the last 10 months.

The more times I see this post, the better it gets. These are real statistics, yet we still have people denying that this works. OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES AMERICA

the gun nuts won’t care about all this.

they’ll tell you this country is somehow different

part of the irony is not wanting to blame all gun owners for the actions of a few, but then also oppose training, storage and similar requirements to deal with incompetent firearms handling.

they’ll say criminals would ignore the gun control laws anyway - which makes some sense as a firearms charge wouldn’t deter someone willing to murder. but it could prevent the gun from being made or distributed to them in the first place. sometimes after a shooting it was known the guy was dangerous but nothing could legally be done until it was too late. the right gun control measures would allow it to be nipped in the bud.

the gun nuts insist it’s important for resistance to an unreasonable government Is that even relevant with modern military technology? even referring to the 2nd Amendment, it seems plausible to interpret the militia clause to limit the arms clause, and if a militia is no longer necessary to the security of a free state (because it’s now useless for that purpose), then arms could be limited, and even not discounting militias, that would limit the individual free for all

and I worry armed civilians would enable unreasonable resistance to a reasonable government, in addition to all the apolitical crimes involving guns

people would just use other weapons? at worst that’s damage control, so opposing gun control on those grounds feels like perfect is the enemy of the good. sharp objects? can’t go on a mass stabbing. explosives? besides technical challenges of the material itself, no one seriously questions explosives control. some dumb argument might come down to fists instead of bullets.

what to do about the existing arsenal? buybacks.

COLD WEATHER TIPS FROM SOMEONE WHO LIVES WHERE IT’S COLD:

I always see posts about layering clothing, but there are so many more creative ways to help keep you warm if you don’t have a lot of warm clothes. But first, a note on layering clothing:

-Your underlayer is your WICKING layer. That means it is a layer specifically to absorb the moisture your body produces. DO NOT USE COTTON AS A BOTTOM LAYER. Use merino wool if possible, but other good substitutions are nylon, polyester and rayon. 

-Your middle layer is for insulation. You want AIR POCKETS in there, NOT tight fitting clothes. This is where you want to put your fluffy sweaters, your fleece, down, fur, flannel, or vests. If you do not have these, you can substitute with multiple layers of long sleeve shirts.

-Your outer layer is for keeping the cold away from your body. If you do not have a jacket, you can put on your thickest piece of clothing and then a raincoat over it. Windbreaker if you have one. 

ALSO

-Jeans are the absolute worst at holding heat. Use only as a last resort. 

-You can’t really ever have too many layers on your feet. Alternate tucking your layers of pants into your layers of socks to keep your ankles warm!

-Wear a hat OVER a hood if it will fit! This will keep your ears warmest.

TAKE OFF/OUT ANY AND ALL JEWELERY/PIERCINGS

-If you have a medical bracelet, DO NOT REMOVE IT. If you can, tuck a layer of clothes between it and your skin.

NON-CLOTHING TIPS:

-Raid your recycling. Gather all cardboard boxes and break them down so that they are flat. Put them on the floor to add more layers between you and the cooling house. Newspaper will also serve the same purpose.

-In an emergency, you can also layer newspaper between clothing layers. Don’t worry about looking stupid if you’re staying warm.

-If you have a tent, set that sucker up in whatever room you have decided to stay in. Stay in it and keep it zipped shut as much as you can, but do NOT cover the vent at the top. You can put the rain fly up, but make sure there is circulating air for you to breathe.

-You are probably not going to feel very hungry at times. DO NOT STOP EATING OR DRINKING. Digestion produces a lot of body heat and the food will give your body energy to keep itself going.

-The best foods are heavy and full of carbs and proteins. Eat nuts, eggs, pasta, meats, and beans. If you are on a diet, now you’re not. If you’re vegetarian… bulk up on those pastas and nuts.

-Try not to sweat. If you are finding yourself getting damp, take off the outer layer just until you start to cool slightly. Then redress! Your bottom layer should dry quickly, and being wet is dangerous.

-On that note, STAY ACTIVE. You are probably going to want to hunker down and snuggle up, but that will make your muscles cramp. Every 15-20 minutes do something that gets you up and about. Walk circles in the room, do a couple jumping jacks, stretch, whatever. Just enough to move some blood around your body. Don’t get sweaty or out of breath, it’s just a little movement.

-CHAPSTICK. ON YOUR LIPS. ON YOUR NOSE. ON YOUR EARS. ON YOUR KNUCKLES. Don’t let your extremities get dry or cracked.

SIGNS OF HYPOTHERMIA:

-Uncontrollable shivering -Slurred speech -Confusion or memory loss -Dizziness or lack of coordination -Inability to be woken from sleep

CHILDREN AND INFANTS!!!! I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH.

-Children WILL get colder before you. Make sure they are properly bundled up.

-If you need to breastfeed, put a blanket over the both of you and wait a few minutes for the air to warm before removing or shifting your clothing.

-DO NOT COVER AN INFANTS FACE. ESPECIALLY WHEN SLEEPING. Keep them tucked inside your own clothes when possible. As close to your heart and stomach as possible. 

-Put chapstick on children’s cheeks and clean their face often if they are crying or wiping at their nose. This will prevent cracked skin and irritation.

-Make sure your children are staying as hydrated as you! They are going to fuss and not want to drink cold things, but they NEED liquids.

SIGNS OF HYPOTHERMIA IN INFANTS AND TODDLERS ARE DIFFERENT:

-Shortness of breath  -Cold, red skin -Lethargy or listlessness

Finally:

CHECK ON YOUR NEIGHBORS. CHECK ON CHILDREN. CHECK ON THE ELDERLY. STAY SNUGGLED. STAY SAFE.

Hey guys, I am boosting this again for winter 2022/23 with Texas and New England in mind. If you haven’t heard, the energy companies for these areas in particular have expressed that they may need to conduct rolling blackouts throughout the winter due to energy shortages. We are also expected to have a very cold winter.

It’s important to get your chimneys inspected if you have a wood stove/fireplace/ect to make sure they are clean and safe. Store wood an appropriate distance from the heat source.

If your power is out and therefor the water as well, and you HAVE to flush that toilet, you can take the top off the tank and pour some in before each flush. DO NOT waste your drinking water on this. Use a bucket of water from a pond or run the bath and fill up a bucket beforehand. Do not use pool water. I haven’t looked into what chlorine would do to a septic tank/public water supply but I assume it’s nothing good.

If you have questions about the blackouts, I suggest calling your energy provider (I need to do this too) to see if they have more information or a schedule of when they might need to start implementing shut downs.

Buckle up and bundle up, everyone. Be safe 💜

This is A+ advice!!!

Adding the other important thing about wearing a hat; your body will prioritize keeping your head and core warm over all else because that’s where your brain and organs are. Everything else can be survivably lost, so your body will constrict the blood vessels delivering warm blood to your extremities in order to keep the most hot blood around your vitals. Adding a hat and extra sweater will, weird as it sounds, help your frozen fingers and toes feel warmer, even if you think your head isn’t cold.

Also, if you are trying to warm up your house, DO NOT RUN YOUR OVEN/GAS STOVE OR BRING A GENERATOR INDOORS FOR POWER! One of the big things that always kills folks during ice storms around here isn’t hypothermia; it’s Carbon-Monoxide Poisoning. Appliances that are not meant to be run continuously or are meant to be run outdoors or with a lot of ventilation might provide extra warmth or energy, but they’re also putting out CO that can kill you. Symptoms of CO poisoning include headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain and confusion, so please be careful!

what the libcucks fail to understand is that this is a small price to pay for the end goal: an embedded HUD with unskippable advertisements in the margins of your eyesight

this screenshot is a headline edit/joke, about a real USA Today article (which is far more praising) and is spreading around twitter and here. The real number of primates they've killed is lower, but I think it's important to understand why.

Neurallink is a fucking awful company whose marketing materials and CEO are outright lying as to their products' supportable potential. But they're not big enough to actually have killed 3,000 primates. Most significantly, we know that the the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine filed a lawsuit against a UC Davis lab for invasive and deadly brain experiments on 23 intelligent primates.

The reason it's important to point out that it's less than 3,000 is that this kind of work is very often done at university laboratories, which gives us more leverage to slow it down or keep it out of this dude's hands.

Holy...okay. 3000 non-human primates might not be the correct number, but even 23 primates dead in this experiment is horrifying from a science perspective.

I worked in a neuroscience lab that did work with one (1) rhesus monkey. His name was Beckett. Beckett had better healthcare than a university undergraduate. Hell, it took less hoops to get some experimental studies involving undergrad volunteers up and running than it was to do one experiment with Beckett wherein he got to sit in a chair and eat grapes.

See, the paperwork regarding experiments with animals was intense. I spent three days filling out the forms and going back and forth with the ethics board to let us do experiments on terminal mice wherein they'd peacefully be put under anesthesia and never wake up from surgery. As in we were putting a sick mouse to sleep and had to be 100% sure it would not be in any pain or distress. Screwing up and causing a mouse harm or killing it outside of these exact bounds? You'd be lucky if you ever got to work with a mouse again.

Not only that, but since an animal was expected to die in the experiment, we had to report how many we needed in the experiment and then how many actually died. And if the latter number was higher, you better believe the ethics board would be on our case demanding to know what the actual hell happened.

(There's a plaque, by the way, in the labs, in remembrance of all the animals whose lives we ask for in the pursuit of science. It's right there when you walk in.)

The paperwork and restrictions get more and more complex and strict the higher up the "evolutionary chain" you go up. If you MUST use an animal model, you use the lowest one on the chain that can meet your requirements. As in, why use frogs if you can use zebrafish? Why use fish if you can use fruitflies? Why use a living creature at all if your computer simulation is good enough? And if you can't give a good answer, your proposal should be denied.

Back to the monkeys and Beckett. Monkeys, or "non-human primates" as they're often known as, are usually at the top of this chain. Ideally, you treat them like humans who are unable to consent for themselves. Which means they need advocates for them. Beckett pretty much had a vet assigned just to him. If he so much as had a sniffle, the vet had the power to veto any and all experiments he'd be involved in until he was feeling better.

This was important because if your lab had a monkey and that monkey died for reasons other than "natural causes" that the ethics board did not okay? There was going to be an investigation and if they didn't like what they found, not only would your lab never get another monkey again, but there was a damn good chance you'd be barred from working with any and ALL animals.

So from this perspective, "23 monkeys dead" should be read a very specific kind of shock and disgust. One dead should have made any kind of ethics board hit the breaks on this shit and start asking pointed questions as to "why".

(Oh, and in case you're wondering, there is an answer to the question of "what happens to monkeys who can't be used in research anymore?"

They're sent to the farm.

No, really. There are legit primate sanctuaries specifically for retired research primates. Where they get to live out the rest of their days in peace and safety in as close to a natural environment as possible. Beckett was a cranky old guy, and when I left the lab he was still there, but the plan had been for him to retire to one of those. I hope he got there and ate as many grapes as he could sucker the researchers into giving him as he could.)

Fellow researcher here, and I can 100% concur with the above. It takes SO much work and paperwork to get approved for every animal you get your hands on. We have hundreds of documents that will state essentially the same 5 things over and over because we HAVE to have a paper trail.

Having almost two dozen non-human primates dead? That's horrifying. Someone was bribed and the ethics board should be at all of their throats, shutting down this project forever.

Dear December,

please. bro please. please. bro please. please. just. dude. please. just a break. let me have one break. dude please, im begging you man, im already down, don’t kick me. bro please-

Aelin, on the phone: Hey Rowan, can Fenrys and I borrow 2500 bucks?

Rowan: Why do you need 2500 bucks?

Aelin: …For… an escape room.

Rowan: What kind of escape room costs 2500 bucks?

Fenrys, lying on the floor from the background: JAIL.