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~ Lady Kianna ~

@ladykianna / ladykianna.tumblr.com

FFXIV and variety twitch streamer Follow me on Twitter and join the Discord ‘cause I’ll post there when I go live! + Twitter + Discord >
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"if you consume enough problematic media then there will be a point in which you become desensitized and replicate the behavior"

right, that's why all my media studies professors moonlight as serial killers

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half-serious quip aside, what you're saying is that you think people have the inherent moral fiber of overcooked pasta and if you don't spoonfeed them pre-digested purity, they will revert to their baser nature of amoral, immoral, cruel and murderous beasts which, frankly, means you're a dehumanizing cunt

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The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Company (MCCPDC) is a registered pharmaceutical wholesaler and purchases drugs directly from manufacturers, bypassing middlemen to lower the price of more than 100 medications, it said in a statement.

For example, the leukemia drug imatinib is priced at $47 a month on MCCPDC compared to the $9,657 retail price.

MCCPDC CEO Alex Oshmyansky reached out to Cuban with an idea for a low-cost generic drug company in a cold email. It was launched in January last year. They were motivated in part by “Pharma Bro” Martin Shrkeli’s outrage-producing price hike of the lifesaving drug Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per tablet while Shrkeli was CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. Cuban told Forbes last year the pricing for generic drugs was “ridiculous.” He said he decided to put his name on the company to “show capitalism can be compassionate and to send the message I am all in.” It’s not clear how much he had invested in the company.

Reblog to save someone an entire paycheck, or more, on the pharmaceuticals they need.

Gods, I want this to be true so badly.

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It is true. Mark Cuban is doing this in part because he wants to run for President in 2024 if Biden doesn’t run again (Mark ran in 2020). He’s a Democrat and “I personally made medication affordable” will give him an immense edge. He’s far from perfect but this is a good thing he’s doing. Also he seems to genuinely believe this stuff, but either way, site’s up and operational and you can start any time.

just so people understand what a big deal this is, i ran some fast price comparisons. goodrx is an app that offers discounts on medications for which you have to pay out of pocket, whether because your insurance doesn’t cover them or because you don’t have insurance. if you don’t have insurance, goodrx is often about as good as it gets, so i’m using their prices for my comparison.

please note that prices are location dependent on goodrx—it shows you the options at pharmacies near your location. i’m in pittsburgh, pa; if you’re in a different part of the country and you try this, you may get slightly (or wildly) different numbers. 

fluoxetine is generic prozac. thirty 20mg capsules costs $12.80 at my cheapest local pharmacy. costplus has it for $3.90.

atorvastatin is generic lipitor. thirty 40mg tablets is $10.95 at my cheapest local pharmacy. costplus has it for $4.20.

omeprazole is generic prilosec. thirty 20mg capsules is $13.90 at the cheapest local pharmacy; $4.20 at costplus.

aripiprazole is generic abilify. thirty 10mg tablets is $17.73 at the cheapest local pharmacy (and $260.60 at the most expensive—and that’s with a discount, still, yikes); $6.00 at costplus. 

lamotrigine xr is generic lamictal xr. thirty 25mg tablets is $36.59 at the cheapest local pharmacy; $8.40 at costplus. 

maybe that doesn’t seem like a huge discount, but the goodrx prices change *all the time*—last time i used it to buy fluoxetine, which was in the last couple of years, it was $31. also, many people are on multiple medications, or have multiple people in a household taking multiple medications, and $5 off every prescription adds up real fast. 

this is an objectively fantastic thing and a huge deal, and i hope they’re wildly successful.

HE HAS MY PRESCRIPTION ON HERE FOR $4.20.

THE CHEAPEST I CAN GET IT IN PERSON ANYWHERE IS $13 AND THE STANDARD PRICE FOR THE GENERIC IS $82.

TAMIFLU IS ON HERE FOR UNDER $4. IT’S AN ANTIVIRAL USED TO TREAT SEVERE CASES OF INFLUENZA AND REGULARLY COSTS OVER $100.

There is a medicine on here called Valcyte, it’s an HIV medication, he’s offering it for $100.20 which sounds outrageous (and I mean still kind of is but wait for it, wait for it) UNTIL YOU REALIZE ON GOODRX IT’S LISTED FOR $179 AS THE ABSOLUTE CHEAPEST PRICE I CAN FIND AND MY LOCAL WALGREENS SELLS IT FOR $1,009 FOR A MONTH’S SUPPLY.

This man is literally going to save lives. Jesus christ. I could cry.

Heads up for my Americans.

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Rhianna Pratchett confirming her father wouldn't be a """gender critical""" activist (whatever the hell those GCs stand for) if he were still alive

The GCs are Terfs. A specific type of transphobe. Quite a few British celebrity got recruited to their ranks and they have the money and clout to do a lot of damage unfortunately.

Terry passed away before Rowling started her downward spiral and played a significant role in creating the current toxic atmosphere around Trans rights in England . It is good to see that his daughter ,who is also a writer, stands up for human rights.

That’s despicable trying to “recruit” someone who’s DEAD. Not to mention there’s NOTHING in Pratchett’s books—including the ones of essays, articles, and speeches—to suggest he join in if he was alive.

And obviously his own kid would know his private opinions so hopefully the assholes will see her tweet and back the fuck off.

(GC stands for “gender critical”, when you see that it usually means that you’re talking to/about terfs who are trying to rebrand their image).

For those of you who are wondering who else the original tweet is referring to, they are talking about Margaret Atwood, a very prominent feminist author (probably best known for The Handmaid’s Tale). Because she is a feminist the terfs assumed that she’d naturally side with them, and it came as a massive shock (for some reason) when she very publicly opposed and humiliated all of  terfdom.

But yeah I don’t know how terfs can possibly get through Discworld books without any kind of self-awareness but apparently they do. I’ve also seen them talking about how the Wives in the Handmaid’s Tale are all trans women (solely based on the fact that they are infertile). If you know anything about the plot or even the basic premise you’ll know how ludicrous that suggestion is.

Terf rhetoric basically revolves around throwing shit at the wall and then crawling around in anything that sticks, but the underlying transphobia is always present.

Rhianna Pratchett is the best.

“Terry Pratchett” is now a trending topic on twitter and everyone is just slamming the people who claim he would be transphobic. It’s been really nice to see

Also there’s this

Without the goverment, who will help those in need?

Okay, the notes on this are giving me hives and I am seriously concerned about the absolute lack of critical thinking present, so some things about this from a union electrical worker who works a city contract:

1) Are those stairs up to code?

Just by looking at them: no. Open risers are a tripping hazard, I don’t see any tread grips so they’ll become a death trap in wet conditions, and those treads don’t look thick enough, supported enough, or even level. But hey, maybe it’s just a bad photo. But how far do the railing support posts go underground? Are they below the frost line? Were they properly supported in concrete? Was the concrete prepared right and given enough time to cure properly? Is the wood properly treated for weather resistance? Did he take into account the ground shifting on such a steep grade?

Even IF he did all that and the stairs were 100% up to code, the city has no way to verify that. So no, the city can’t just leave them there.

2) Who cares if the steps are up to code?

I saw a concerning amount of this in the notes. I thought we were all on the same page re: Cities have a moral obligation to make sure their structures aren’t deathtraps waiting to happen, and that’s what codes are for. I promise you, you WANT buildings and structures to follow codes and regulations. But in any case, they definitely have a legal obligation for it, so if they leave those stairs up on public land and someone trips, the city could be on the hook for millions in damages. So no, the city can’t just leave them there.

3) There’s no way stairs cost that much, it’s just the city stuffing its pockets:

$65,000 definitely seems on the steep side to me, and I’d want to see a breakdown of expenditure. But I also don’t know the scope of the project. For a set of stairs like the ones above? Yeah, that’s a lot. To excavate the entire grade and put in a concrete structure that includes stairs, an ADA compliant ramp, and good quality weather resistant material? That sounds more reasonable.

But the city also likely needs to have the following: a ground survey of the build site, architects to draw the plans, civil engineers to OK the plans, and the contractors - typically union, and therefore more expensive - to excavate and then build the structure. All of those steps are going to take a LOT of people and a LOT of time and therefore, a LOT of money.

4) Labor doesn’t cost that much, someone is just giving the job to his contractor buddy who’s inflating the price:

Labor does cost that much. Stop telling people to unionize and demand the value of their labor and then getting mad when people do it.

Anyway, in my city at least, contracts are done by blind bid and the lowest bid wins. Under most circumstances, my city legally cannot take a higher bidder, explicitly to prevent the above circumstance.

TL;DR:

“Local man puts up steps” is NOT a safe solution to this problem, the city legally and morally cannot let an unsafe structure stand, even simple construction is complicated and expensive as hell, and acting like the city could have done this for $500 is ridiculously out of touch.

This twitter thread has some pictures showing why the steps were highly unsafe. They’re basically unattached, the railing is held in place by some rocks wedged under it, the angle is way too steep, the wood is incredibly slippery in the rain, there are jagged pieces of wood sticking up in several places …

To be clear, it’s a nice effort by a well meaning hobby carpenter. But that doesn’t make them safe enough to use.

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How did Dogma, a relatively low-budget film, manage to have the only good-looking angel wings? Like, even movies with tons of FX dollars tend to fuck them up and they look bad. These are very stylized, and you can tell they’re not real feathers, but they actually look… better than real feathers? They have a balance of curvature and sharp angles that just make for a great silhouette and they move wonderfully. I cannot figure this out!!

e: I looked on The Internet

I don’t know this show but that’s a fucking practical effect??! Better than most cg. Holy shit.

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Please go look up the Crooked Feather. They make practical wings! They are so cool. Someday…. Someday I will have a pair 😂

This is great. You can see how much effort it takes Baffleck with his core muscles to keep his posture upright when they wings are moving. Which I love, because having enormous, working wings would put a huge strain on a humanoid body. It’s good when things don’t seem effortless.

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MORE PRACTICAL EFFECTS IN EVERYTHING

also incidentally that’s the Hollywood version of how most cosplay wings are made, except ours are usually EVA foam, hot glue, and heavy duty armature wire.

Anonymous asked:

Do you ever think you'll stop drawing fanart? No offense it just seems like the kind of thing you're supposed to grow out of. I'm just curious what your plans/goals are since it isn't exactly an art form that people take seriously.

Ah, fanart. Also known as the art that girls make.

Sad, immature girls no one takes seriously. Girls who are taught that it’s shameful to be excited or passionate about anything, that it’s pathetic to gush about what attracts them, that it’s wrong to be a geek, that they should feel embarrassed about having a crush, that they’re not allowed to gaze or stare or wish or desire. Girls who need to grow out of it.

That’s the art you mean, right?

Because in my experience, when grown men make it, nobody calls it fanart. They just call it art. And everyone takes it very seriously.

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It’s interesting though — the culture of shame surrounding adult women and fandom. Even within fandom it’s heavily internalized: unsurprisingly, mind, given that fandom is largely comprised by young girls and, unfortunately, our culture runs on ensuring young girls internalize *all* messages no matter how toxic. But here’s another way of thinking about it.

Sports is a fandom. It requires zealous attention to “seasons,” knowledge of details considered obscure to those not involved in that fandom, unbelievable amounts of merchandise, and even “fanfic” in the form of fantasy teams. But this is a masculine-coded fandom. And as such, it’s encouraged - built into our economy! Have you *seen* Dish network’s “ultimate fan” advertisements, which literally base selling of a product around the normalization of all consuming (male) obsession? Or the very existence of sports bars, built around the link between fans and community enjoyment and analysis. Sport fandom is so ingrained in our culture that major events are treated like holidays (my gym closes for the Super Bowl) — and can you imagine being laughed at for admitting you didn’t know the difference between Supernatural and The X Files the way you might if you admit you don’t know the rules of football vs baseball, or basketball?

“Fandom” is not childish but we live in a culture that commodified women’s time in such away that their hobbies have to be “frivolous,” because “mature” women’s interests are supposed to be marriage, family, and overall care taking: things that allow others to continue their own special interests, while leaving women without a space of their own.

So think about what you’re actually saying when you call someone “too old” for fandom. Because you’re suggesting they are “too old” for a consuming hobby, and I challenge you to answer — what do you think they should be doing instead?

This whole modern approach is also seriously undermining just how important fanfiction is - from a historical standpoint.

The concept of fanfiction formed and forged the earliest stages of literature in Europe. Because the majority of authors in France, Germany and Great Britain looked at that funky little Celtic dude Arthur and thought “hey, he’s neat. I wanna write about him”.

The entire concept of a book outside of religious purposes was born out of fanfiction in my country.

There is no “first canon” for Arthur where he came as the prince of Camelot, with his sidekicks Lancelot and Merlin and his endgame love interest Gwen.

Arthur was some random hunter when he started out.

Someone’s fanfiction made him a prince.

Someone else’s fanfiction gave him a round table.

Someone else’s fanfiction gave him Merlin at his side.

Someone else’s fanfiction gave him Morgana, gave him Gwen, gave him his swords.

And, to this day, we still write Arthurian fanfiction. Literally last year there was a movie adaptation that is, by all intends and purposes, fanfiction, because it wasn’t even close to a literal adaptation of the source material (The Kid Who Would Be King). Heck, BBC’s Merlin, itself an Arthurian fanfiction, remains one of the biggest fandoms that people today write for on AO3.

You were a joke in the middle ages if you tried to write your own stuff. Who’s interested in your stuff? You were only a respected author if you wrote fanfiction. The most famous medieval German authors are famous because they wrote fanfiction about some knightly OCs they created who served on Arthur’s court. That is the literary legacy of the middle ages. Arthurian fanfiction.

Yet somewhere along the way, this concept of “I find x story/element cool and want to elaborate on it more, shift the focus onto an aspect of this original source material” has gotten this “eh, it’s fanfiction” connotation and lost respect.

Even though this very concept is still being used - even outside of the actual medium of fanfiction - and it is still being used for the very same purpose it was used for in medieval times. Original movies often don’t get as much recognition as adaptations of existing source material that the audience is familiar with. People see a movie about a character they’re familiar with and seem more inclined to buy a ticket to see the 10th new interpretation of Batman or Superman or Snow White. How are these new interpretations of familiar source material that usually add to the lore, reinterpret characterizations and dynamics, any different from fanfiction?

But heaven forbid we call The Dark Knight Nolan’s Batman fanfiction. No, fanfiction is that silly thing that we can’t take seriously, but that new Joker movie, that however is high-end art.

SO IMPORTANT

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This. Fanfiction is variations on an existing theme, simultaneously making use of and satisfying people’s existing love for a story that they’re happy to consume more of, and cultivating the synergy between an existing story/mythos and a new author who, in interacting with characters they’d never have created themselves, creates something that neither they nor any of the story’s previous tellers could have made all by themselves.

Fanfiction is the new whole being greater than the sum of its parts, and fanfiction is the story being made limitless, retelling by retelling, and it is wonderful.

It’s also worth noting that Batman himself only came into being because of The Scarlet Pimpernel, a series of books about an extravagantly rich foppish playboy by day, daring hero in disguise by night (I mean, loosely. He also fopped by night and heroed by day, but you get my drift). Written by a woman no less.

Batman is a transformative work with a modernised crime-fighting SP but also borrowing strongly from earlier comic books, and yet it is seen as definitive.

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Coming back here to say that I think the derision for fanart also has some of its roots in our capitalist hellscape.

It’s the age old “If thing not make you money, why you care about thing?” that’s so prevalent in the system. Of course some people do make money with their fanart, but I think that is still part of the scorn. 

It’s supposed to be something you do not just for fun, but for practice, people like this think. Once you’re good at it, you can drop it and make money by focusing on your OCs and original work!

Dildo Generator

Online 3D experiment by Ikaros Kappler which is described as a “Extrusion/Revolution Generator” ….

Created with three.js, you can alter the bezier curves and angle of the form, and is designed with 3D printing in mind (models can be exported and saved, as well as calculated weight in silicone).

Try it out for yourself (if you wish) here

the time is now

hell yeah

ah yes, the ol rolling pin dilda

it’s called the purple ramjet

which end do you start with? the answer is yours to decide

shove a vase up your ass

not even jesus could save yall motherfuckers’ souls

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i call it the matterhorn

cackling just continues to get louder as I scroll through

i think this is the first time an internet community has discovered something customizable and adamantly refused to make penises

of course this is the post where tumblr is like “Seems sfw to me!”

I call this one the Megahorny

Just cram an entire table lamp up there

Me every time this post crosses my dash:

My laugh at this post is auditory evidence of just how sick I still am.

Plate. 

I’d usually post this to my NSFW blog but this is making me laugh so unreasonably hard that I can’t fucking breathe and therefore deserves to be on my main blog

Compiling some of the best ones from the replies-

How you gonna do us like that bruh???

ITS BACK

M U S H R O O M

i guess this is the long post all the gays are collectively reblogging today huh

Idk how to work it on mobile which makes me sad

This this fucking terrible thing just killed me

I was just scrolling and my friend asked why I was dying and i just had shown them this.

They are scared of me i think

HAHWHWHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHSHESUAIJ

this needs to be on yalls dash

You have been sentenced to death in a magical court. The court allows all prisoners to pick how they die and they will carry it out immediately. You have it all figured out until the prisoner before you picks old age and is instantly transformed into a dying old man. Your turn approaches.

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I think I’d have minded less if I’d committed a truly heinous crime. Something that warranted death. Or even if I was the kind of person who would enjoy flinging a last defiance at my execution.

It was all just a show, anyway. They did it every year. They brought out a selection of criminals, and the Sorcerer who ruled us showed his power by bringing about their deaths by magic. Just to show, every year, what happened to anyone who crossed him.

There was a time, probably, when the people he executed really were rebels or assassins. In latter days he had to take what the dungeons offered. I was dragged up in chains between a pickpocket, sobbing in terror, and a man who’d killed another man in a brawl. There were few criminals of any note, by then. So instead of choosing the wickedest criminals, they chose based on appearance. The man who’d been in the brawl had a face like a clenched fist, and looked like a ruffian. The pickpocket, aging and with hands beginning to tremble, was a different kind of example. As was I.

“There aren’t many pretty ones, this year,” the man who chose me had said, examining me. “But this one will do. Not young, but not old, a woman, well-favoured enough for the gallows… what was her crime?”

The warder shrugged. “She tried to kill one of the sheriffs.”

The man looked down at me and I shrugged. “I hit him with a washing stick, because he tried to extort money from me, and he was a baby about it.” I refused to treat this as anything but pathetic, even after my sentencing. “I didn’t even break any bones.”

“Treason, then,” the man said, nodding. “Attacking the servants of the law. That will look well on the list. Send her.”

I had been debating ever since what to choose. Something quick? Something painless? I considered demanding that I suffer the attack I supposedly made on the sheriff, but then I realized the Sorcerer would only give me what the man had said I was going to do, and that was not a pleasant way to die. I had all but decided on something swift and relatively painless. Beheading with the sharpest of blades sounded good. It would be quick. 

I always see the “where else would i find this but on tumblr” thing said about things that are funny, but I can’t think of anywhere else where I can randomly run into a short story that shakes my core

https://nerdbot.com/2021/01/09/new-pill-bottles-for-shaky-hands-will-help-people-with-parkinsons/

This makes me cry, actually.

Just to add on. Libraries in many cities have 3d printers you can use that charge you only the price of materials. So if you can't wait for the shipping from the engineers, try your local library.

Humanity at its best 🤗

whoever said diamonds are a girl's best friend clearly has never met ibuprofen

diamonds can buy many ibuprofen

No I'm pretty sure the grocery store won't take diamonds as payment

im thinking about professor widogast, in a tweed coat with patched elbows, grading papers with a cat on his lap, his door always open to any student who needs it.

about a living room cluttered with books and paper and all manner of components, two wizards passed out on top of each other on an old sofa after finally cracking that one arcane equation.

about essek’s disguises subtly showing age, mirroring caleb’s, so they can still walk together arm in arm through the city.

I’m thinking about a ship’s wedding, tables piled high with sweets, and orly officiating. A green cloaked figure appears in the back, and later guests argue over whether it was really there at all.

about the home for orphans they build in nicodranas, which takes in, loves, and protects every child who comes through its doors, so none of them ever feel disposable.

about how the stories of captain tusktooth spread, and turn to legend, and every version includes the blue skinned she-devil who loved and fought by his side.

im thinking about a new baby on Veth’s hip, dark skinned and curly haired, and the proud, frantic message to Caleb after Yeza walks in on her magically making the flame of a candle dance.

about a family apothecary, underneath a large apartment, which almost blows up about once a week until someone (Yeza) decides they need somewhere else for their experiments, and they invest in a warehouse down by the docks.

about Grandma Veth in a rocking chair, brown braids now grey, delighting small children with exciting, gory tales of daring adventure, which she will tell at any opportunity.

im thinking about a cottage somewhere beautiful, which always smells like fresh baking because Yasha is learning. Before too long, her bugcakes become legend for miles around.

about nights that arent so good, when Beau comes home late after a frustrating day or Yasha wakes from a nightmare, breathing heavy, and how one of them will hold the other close until they wake in the morning to a new day that doesn’t feel nearly as hopeless, because they know they have eachother.

about a wedding in the blooming grove officiated by caduceus, and decorated in wildflowers. As soon as the ceremony ends, the sky goes grey, and everyone runs inside except for the brides, who stand kissing in the pouring rain.

im thinking about a caduceus who spends his days doing what he loves the most, tending the earth and occasionally exploring the world, splitting time between his two families.

about an old pirate king who ventures inland as he feels himself dying, asking the Clays if he can be buried in the blooming grove, because he trusts them not to let anyone mess with his body, and, besides, he wants to be buried among friends.

about the graves that slowly fill, each in their time. Generations of Clays know to keep the ninth one empty until, centuries later, an old elf takes his place.

i’m thinking about the Nein, the Nine, and how their journey all together may have come to a close, but the rest of their lives are still to come, and those lives are bright.

i’m thinking about how each of them, in their own ways, will leave the world better than they found it.

It took a few weeks but I’m so glad that critters have jumped from “lifespan angst shadowgast” to “silver fox dilf Caleb shadowgast”

Truly the greatest of upgrades