people who don't follow chess I promise this post is really funny

okay, yeah this is pretty funny

i want more people to write ambiguously straight stories. two people of different genders have a deep and important connection that could be either platonic or romantic, but it’s never directly addressed. other characters don’t comment on it and the whole thing is left up for interpretation. they don’t kiss.

Pacific Rim wins yet again.

Shit, you're so right.

"The chance to shine is not equal"

Thinking again about the time my aliens class was discussing conspiracy theories and the professor asked us to call some out and I, thinking simultaneously of both flat earthers and the "moon landing was faked" people, confidently shouted out "FLAT MOON!" and sent the class into hysterics

@astriiformes I actually made a sticker of this, I found it so hilarious.

its definitely funny when marcille gets a little mean with it but its so important to me that they are also Best Friends

Research Survey: Have you paid for loot boxes or gacha? We want to hear from you!

Researchers from the University of Indianapolis are investigating the experiences of people who play video games and purchase loot boxes or gacha. While most people who play video games and buy loot boxes find it to be simply an enjoyable pastime, there are some who have begun to report negative consequences. 

If you are an adult (21 years old or older) who lives in the United States, and you have paid real money for at least one loot box or gacha pull in the last month, you are invited to take our survey!

There are 40 questions in this survey that will help us gain insight into the well-being of people who spend money on loot boxes. The survey will take about 15 minutes of your time. Some questions may feel uncomfortable to answer, but you can skip questions or exit the survey at any point, and it won’t cost you anything besides your time. There are no direct benefits to you, but your participation will help us in our research. In appreciation, you will be given the option to enter a drawing for one of four $20 Amazon gift cards.

Participation is voluntary, and all responses will be kept confidential. If you choose to enter the drawing for a gift card, your email will be separated from your responses and will not be used for any other purpose.

If you are interested in participating, please follow this link to complete the survey.

Questions can be directed to Principal Investigator, Dr. Samantha Gray, at graysl@uindy.edu. 

This research project has been approved by the University of Indianapolis Institutional Review Board (IRB). Approval date 4/2/2024; Approval number 02055

The Parks and Rec Dept. of Grand Rapids, MI had a Marsh Madness competition to determine the city's most beloved wildlife. People were able to vote for their favorites and the winner is the North American Beaver.

And they actually met 😭

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/04/09/solar-eclipse-new-york-teacher/

so many people do not understand that 1) animals are not people, and 2) they aren't teaching their animals what they THINK they are teaching them.

dog group on the book of faces, someone is asking for advice on how to get their dog to come to them after the dog is done relieving itself outside. The dog doesn't like coming to them an they spend ten or twenty minutes or more catching the dog each time to bring it in. Which reminded me of one of many attempts to talk a person through trying to fix exactly this same behavior in *many* other dogs over the years...

Me: So, a quick question for you... does the dog not coming to you and you having to chase them down frustrate you?

Them: Of course!

Me: So what do you do when you finally either catch the dog or get them to come to you?

Them: I give the dog a correction!

Me: So. You get hands on your dog and then you immediately punish them for allowing you to get hands on them. And you wonder why your dog has developed the habit of not coming to you?

Them: No, that's not... I'm punishing them for not coming when I call!

Me: Which was.... fifteen minutes ago, or so, you said?

Them: Yes, when I first called them!

Me: Dogs brains literally cannot link an abstract thought like that. A thought and a consequence MUST happen within 2.4 seconds of one another, or the consequence becomes linked to the most recent behavior, thought, or activity. So, tell me... how is your dog supposed to understand that you punishing them is for the event fifteen minutes ago when you have made such a concerted, if unintentional, effort to teach them that them getting close enough for you to lay hands on them in the yard means an immediate punishment?

Them: But that's not what I *meant*!

Me: Doesn't matter what YOU meant... what THEY learned is that they come to you, and they get punished. Stop punishing your dog for the behavior that you want to see more of.

Stop anthropomorphizing your animals, folks. They don't think like us. Stop setting them - and yourself - up for failure.

"Rabbit..! Tank..! Super Best Match!"

Saluki Eclipse Con 2024 was SO FUN!!!

I need to give some major credit to @pippenpaddlopsicopolisthethird for taking the best cosplay photos that I've ever had taken or seen in my life! Their vision for these was just perfect and I'm STUNNED by how they turned out 🤯🤯🤯. Please please go check them out and give them a follow!

you can read or listen to the full piece for free here

Okay I’ll be honest I’m 5 books in after not reading manga for like. Years. So….

Grim's patterning is so beautiful

This wins all eclipse posts

OH HANG ON

NEW IDEA ALERT

Why would I make a normal black t-shirt or sweater into an eclipse garment when I COULD make an ECLIPSE CAPE

Didn't have a lot of black but DID have a big chunk of navy twill. Quick half circle cape with front edges on the selvedge for ease of hemming and hit the whole neckline and bottom edge with a 6mm rolled hem foot. If I were doing things correctly I'd have let it hang on a mannequin overnight before hemming but we don't got that kinda time. The needle broke and a piece hit me on the chin but that was the very last stitch so we're good

It's so fucking WINDY can we NOT

A little leakage where the contact paper came up but it's fine we're not getting totality anyway

HELL YEAH!!!

Now I just wanna go around thrift stores looking for a nice brooch to hold it together

There's an art style range meme floating around on Twitter and I wanted to post it here!

I get bored working in one style too long. My commission style is typically wildly different from my prints and I play with everything in between. Maybe it makes branding more difficult? But it keeps me sane, lol!

Finished another pair of gloves last week, this time in dark brown leather from ItalianSkins and sewn up with some olive green silk thread that was a very lucky thrift store find. (It was in a mixed baggie and I didn't know it was silk until I got home!)

In my glove video I mentioned wanting to re-draw my pattern so the fingers are angled in more tightly, and so the thumb piece is longer, and I did that for these. The thumb fits much better, and the bases of the fingers are no longer too loose.

I also tried the straighter style of fourchettes, but didn't like them as much as the V shaped ones. I think the curved edges put a bit too much material onto the backs of the fingers and made them wrinklier. (Though this particular leather is not the stretchiest, so it may be better with a stretchier one.)

I did 3 rows of feather stitch on the back of the hand, since I'd seen that on an extant pair and thought it looked nice. I used a regular needle for that part because I was worried a leather needle would damage the thread.

I drafted it myself! I have a video on the whole process:

I took a photo of my newer pattern and it turned out rather bad and blurry, so here's what the pattern pieces for a slightly different pair look like, alongside the sewn up glove.

(And here's a link to a feather stitch tutorial, which I should have included in the original post.)