tiruvenkadu

[tiruvenkadu]

these are fantastic

I feel confident enough to post these now. A collection of all the existing posters after some edits from the other post that got 13k notes! These are full size/quality. Go nuts.

You may use them for wallpapers, tabletop campaigns, whatever. Consider tipping me or buying a print or sticker on ko-fi here! If you do use them, let me know what for, or send pictures!

[tiruvenkadu]

capybara mom-surfing

Hitching a ride

(via)

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brilliant

tv shows with time travel organizations/bureaus/police/agencies/whatever should have a department with instead of a tech genius eating candy, it’s a harried seamstress or fashion designer who is like

“1450 italy? does it look like I have the time to dye you wool? nO. YOU’RE GOING TO THE 1980s”

and throws shoulder pads at the hapless time agent

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[tiruvenkadu]

beautiful and brilliant.

Pride Month is upon us again and so it is time to repost my little guy, Hue! I’m wishing everyone a safe, supportive, positive, and enlightening Pride, whether you’re all the way “out” or not!

[tiruvenkadu]

i want to meet this mom and we’ll be best friends

actual quotes from my mother, during her first watch of The Owl House

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this is beautifully worded.

What was the biggest lifestyle change you made for health's sake? Was it quitting cigarettes?

In terms of life span, yes, it would have been giving up smoking in 1993.

[tiruvenkadu]

going to share an anecdote that i hope will make you laugh.

a few years back, when i figured out i was aspec, i had joined a local meetup ace group.

typically, we’d start by greeting any newcomers, and we’d ask them what their favorite kind of cake was.

one meeting, we had a new person who, when asked, said they didn’t like cake. knowing that there are near-infinite varieties of cake, and “cake” is in fact a very broad term when considering all baked goods, and all the possibilities what with substitutions for food allergies and whatnot, i could not help myself when the person admitted they didn’t like cake, and i blurted out “what, *any* cake?”

the rest of the group laughed.

i was aware, even at the time, the irony of being with a group for people who don’t like a thing that is supposedly universal, and being surprised and disbelieving at the thought that someone in that group would fail to like any form of a thing that is supposedly universal.

(but seriously, what are the chances that you don’t like sex in any form *and* don’t like cake in any form? like… technically, zucchini bread or pumpkin bread are types of cake.)

#asexual #aspec #cake

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and this suddenly reminded me/made me realize that last night i had a dream that i started learning german. and was strangely good at it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Oh my fucking god, I feel like I'm about to explode.

The next few weeks my German class is gonna focus on linguistics

I have waited so long to use all of my knowledge about this

[tiruvenkadu]

i recall hearing of a place that grows their furniture… is this them, or are there more than one? (also, what music is this?)

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brilliant.

I cannot stand the parodies of modern major general, they're overdone and simply not as good as the original. They've done them about everything, whatever topic, big or small.

And when i notice one of them my eyes will always start to roll.

The diction's always slurry when they rush the complicated words, and adding many fricatives will turn it so cacophonous. The slanted rhymes are silly and they keep just making more and more, please someone stop the parodies of modern major general.

The scanning of the lyrics in the meter is unbearable, they emphazise the syllables in ways that are untenable, in short in matters musical, prosodic and ephemeral, i cannot stand the parodies of modern major general!

[tiruvenkadu]

topological? crochet?? method???

i need more mathematics + crafts.

years ago i was inspired to pursue learning glassblowing because in my math class, so many people were having difficulty envisioning a klein bottle. (this was before the internet was really a thing; now you can find fancy klein bottles everywhere.)

A surface bounded by four interlocking "triangular" loops, made with Shiying Dong's seamless topological crochet method

[tiruvenkadu]

One of the many things I love about Discworld is how Pratchett handles discrimination in a way that almost transcends issues such as gender and race.

Ankh-Morpork is presented from the outset as a diverse city, where everyone seems to think that they’re very modern and progressive. Of course, there are characters who are more prejudiced than others, and there are character arcs (like Vimes’s) where they gradually become more tolerant and accepting. It is said that there is no racism among humans, because there are so many species in the city that worrying what colour someone is would seem redundant, however in Jingo we discover that this isn’t the case at all.

And there’s always a minority group that doesn’t count when it comes to their rights. Everyone has equal rights and equal opportunities except them. At first, it’s the trolls and the dwarfs. Then, they are accepted as they prove themselves useful, but the golems don’t count, do they? Then, the golems are slowly, if begrudgingly, accepted too, but the undead (ahem, differently alive) are ostracised. Then the vampires and werewolves start to integrate into society a little more openly, albeit with a few compromises (such as the Black Ribbon), but what about imps? And then, finally, there’s the goblins. I could easily go on to talk about gender roles too, but that’s a whole new post really. In fact, it’s several books.

I suppose my point is that, while the city does indeed improve drastically over time, the people always thought that they were never bigoted to begin with. Now, more than ever, it’s important to remember that very few people actually seem to realise that we all have internalised prejudice, and that it is our duty work towards becoming aware of it. To surrounding ourselves with a diverse group of people, rather than falling into the temptation to only mix with people with similar backgrounds and opinions.

Join a new group. Follow a new social media account where you don’t agree with everything they say 100% of the time, because even if you never end up agreeing with them, there’s still value in that. Keep learning and improving, because you’re never done.

#discworld #gnu terry pratchett

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mathematics fascinate me

I was thinking how it's satisfying that 25 is 5x5 but 24 is 6x4. Two really nice composites right next to each other. And I was like heh, I wonder how common that is. Then I remembered that (x+1)(x-1) = x²-1 is a basic mathematical truth so it happens with literally every square number. It almost feels too convenient! And yet!!

[tiruvenkadu]

the toxin in foxglove acts on the heart; it was isolated & synthesized for use in very important heart medication.

learn plants; they are beautiful in their own right, and very useful as well.

learning about plants in ur area is wild. like you also learn about the histories of the plants. Like oh! Thats garlic mustard! That was brought over from europe as a crop! it smells just like garlic and you can cook with it!  And thats yarrow!  Its been used for tons of stuff and pollinators love it! Oh hey! Thats hemlock! They killed Socrates with that! 

[tiruvenkadu]

modern day dinosaurs be very smart

Y'all want to know what thought is fucking with me today?

Parrots can learn the concept of questions. I don't know about the claim that chimpanzees that were taught sign language never learned to ask questions, or the theory that it simply wouldn't occur to them that the human handlers might know things that they personally do not, or that whatever information they have might be worth knowing. But I don't even remember where I read that, and at best it's an anecdote of an anecdote, but anyway, parrots.

The exact complexity of natural parrot communication in the wild is beyond human understanding for the time being, but you can catch glimpses of how complex it is by looking at how much they learn to pick up from human speech. Sure, they figure out that this sound means this object, animal, person, or other thing. Human says "peanut" and presents a peanut, so the sound "peanut" means peanut. Yes. But if you make the same sound with a rising intonation, you are inquiring about the possibility of a peanut.

A bird that's asking "peanut?" knows there is no peanut physically present in the current situation, but hypothetically, there could be a peanut. The human knows whether there will be a peanut. The bird knows that making this specific human sound with this specific intonation is a way of requesting for this information, and a polite way of informing the human that a peanut is desired.

"I get a peanut?" is a polite spoken request. There is no peanut here, but there could be a peanut. The bird knows that the human knows this. But without the rising intonation of a question, the statement "I get a peanut." is a firm implied threat. There is no peanut here, but there better fucking be one soon. The bird knows that the human knows this.

[tiruvenkadu]

makin stuff

I am on my way to being the best auntie ever or the worst sister-in-law that ever lived. Possibly both.

I am making my 2-year-old niece a plushy for her birthday. She is very hands-on baby and wants to help with everything and be involved in the center of attention. A few weeks after her birthday everyone is going dipnetting. She is two and can not help with dip netting or do anything but watch.

So I am making her a toy salmon. And I am making it so she can filet it. It has guts. It has bones. It is all one piece and child friendly, and I am debating using embedded magnets or velcro to hold the filets on.

She has a kitchen set with a little wooden knife at her grandparents house, who have already heard about this and think its a great idea. We are gonna teach this kid to clean and process fish. She already knows where meat comes from and she will want to get in and do what everyone else is doing which she can not do because the fish are only slightly smaller than she is.

So, salmon plushy