United in the same suffering

The Olympic Games in 1908.

EVERYONE CHECK YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION

RE-REGISTER IF NECESSARY! They can purge you, but they can't stop you from just slapping your legally valid registration right back in the system! Don't let them get away with stealing your vote!

At this point they know they only way to get the twice-impeached 34-count felon (that cheated on is wife with a porn star while she was pregnant and then lied about using presidential campaign funds to pay off said porn star's hush money) elected is if if they stop the opposition from voting entirely. So they're going to purge the people most likely to vote against him. Which is illegal but clearly they don't care about illegal shit, or else they wouldn't be running a convicted felon for president, now would they?

CHECK YOUR REGISTRATION.

I’ll say it again. In 2020 I was purged between a local town council election and the national election. Thank bob I’m paranoid and checked my registration in time to reregister. If you’re in the US check your voter status asap. And then check it again in a month.

Making of video

Reblog so she lives forever.

Chapter 21: More Lost Than Ever.

Higgs was left to die--no, he was lost in Skfiander, which was once again lost to her, to her relief and pain anew--The Brek'kah stone was gone. The artifacts gone. Agatha had passed out for three days after Zeetha couldn't help her at all.

But now Agatha wake and they can move froward.

Through a Lost Princess's Eyes is the Girl Genius Story post timeskip from Zeetha's point of view. It is mostly canon compliant so far, though I've adjusted some things (No more than you see between the comic and novels though, I think.) and will have an uncanon Skifander (Since I've implied to much already.)

*releases pack of dads into home depot* go……be free

invasive species encroach on lesbian territory

This is a common misconception because they’re such similar environments, but you should be aware that dads are native to Home Depot, while lesbians are actually native to Lowe’s. At this point, however, both dads and lesbians have made themselves at home in both Home Depot and Lowe’s to the point that trying to separate them back into their original ranges would probably do more harm than good to the delicate ecosystem of large chain hardware stores.

A properly raised and socialized Dad will be perfectly comfortable cohabiting with Lesbians. Its not really “encroaching on another’s territory”. You wouldn’t say that about foxes in a forest that also homes bobcats, would you? No. It’s just two different species that have both evolved to live in similar/the same environment. As long as they recognize each other as equals, Dads and Lesbians are more than capable of cohabitation.

Now, if you were to release a pack of Lumberjacks into a Lowes or Home Depot, that’s where chaos will reign. Being adapted to a far harsher and more demanding environment, the Lumberjacks would simply push Dads and Lesbians both out and also consume far more than a sustainable amount of resources. It would be like releasing bears at a country club.

As a former timber-harvester… I feel this is potentially accurate in theory. But highly improbable in actuality.

Lumberjacks, like most megafauna species generally require more space than the average hardware store, even a big box store could provide. The misconception is that Lumberjacks are a social species because of how they often work and live together.

This is a matter of necessity, not preference, and a survival technique for thriving under the LogBoss.

A “pack” of Lumberjacks, if not under the environmental pressure of a LogBoss will naturally disperse until they each have a wide territory.

Lumberjacks rarely fight for territory.

One on one, a Lumberjack could drive out a Dad or Lesbian, however the latter tend to travel in social packs.

Lumberjacks will passively retreat on the presence of large numbers of people. Kind of like Sasquatch.

Getting a “pack” of Lumberjacks assembled would be hard enough unless they were forced into a Hardware Store by a LogBoss. In that case, they would already be in a heightened and potentially agitated state far above their natural behavior. This artificial scenario can be likened to a circus animal running amok. If it had been in the wild, the incident would not have occurred.

Free-roaming Lumberjacks are the cryptids of the Hardware ecosystem. They are surprisingly quiet and unobtrusive.

Please stop labeling Lumberjacks as dangerous roving social predators. They are intermediate level omnivores and remarkably peaceful unless threatened.

As a hardware store worker I can say that this is all 100% accurate.

now how in the FUCK am i supposed to leave tumblr when a god tier post like THIS is just is just waiting for me daily?!?!?!

question where does the “art student” or “DIYer” “crafter” or “soap maker” or “miniaturist“ etc. who has ventured into the store for supplies fall into the ecosystem/what is their impact of said ecosystem?

Most of the above are native to craft and hobby stores (art students, historically, are native to museums, but having been introduced to hobby stores, have found a niche for themselves and thrived), but all can be seen in hardware stores on occasion due to territorial overlap. They are generally low-impact, as they tend to stick to specific small areas and primarily utilize different resources. While a large group of any of them can be disruptive (art students, in particular, are known to travel in packs), in general, they are more likely to have territorial disputes with one another than with the local fauna. 

A point of clarity -“crafter” is a bit misleading; while it conjures a specific image, much like ‘fish’ or ‘reptile’ it actually covers a broad array of wildly disparate species, and in general, more descriptive nomenclature is preferred. Fiber artists in particular are a genus to watch out for, particularly in groups. Beware a roving pack of domesticated quilters. They fear nothing, will go anywhere, and due to their social nature, will often seek interaction from other species that thrive best in solitude. They are quite friendly, and will happily adopt members of other species; the concern is that their adoptees do not always wish to be adopted. 

#in search of taxonomic precision and peaceful coexistence (via welkinalauda)

I do wonder how lesbian/bisexual lumberjack-mimickry fits into this

I can say as a former craft store worker that if you wish to see true fear, look into the eyes of a Dad who must venture into a craft store. Despite the overlap of familiar beings known to him from his native hardware store habitat, Dads are instinctively aware that craft stores are not for them; they contain unfamiliar perils and even the seemingly familiar may have strange variances and unnerving secrets. (”Why is this airbrush so small? What do you mean nails, why would you… WUT!!”)

Only experienced silverbacks or the boldest young Dads dare venture into a craft store for long without his mate or offspring to keep roving Craft Ladies at bay and guide him in this strange ecosystem. If a Dad enters with his mate and is separated from her, he will often scuttle for the seeming familiarity of Woodcrafts, Models, or Paints (the latter not to be confused with Fine Arts, unquestioned territory of art students), but he eyes Scrapbooking and Jewelry with trepidation and will usually venture into those exotic areas only in the company of females of his pack.

Lumberjacks are rarely spotted entering craft stores of their own volition, for while they do not fear it as Dads do, they know it is an environment unsuited for megafauna such as themselves.

Hardware store Lesbians generally adapt more easily to craft stores, although they may enlist another Lesbian of a subspecies more adapted to that environment to guide them until they find their niche. Lesbians have even been known to seek the aid of a Craft Lady, a native fauna that share similarities with Lesbians but are usually smaller and nimbler to suit their chosen habitat. Dads who witness this are often awed by the Lesbians’ temerity, for although larger, Dads are generally wary of the cunning and dexterous Craft Ladies and may mistake their enthusiastic pack greetings as predatory swarming.

Craft Ladies, secure in their ecological niche, have no fear of interlopers and take the presence of non-native beings in stride, although they may become territorial about scarcer resources.

The only truly invasive species that threaten craft stores are Brides-to-Be, who are mere annoyances individually, but like locusts may descend in hordes and lay waste, leaving swathes of destruction in their wake. Fortunately for the Craft Ladies, Brides-to-Be are seasonal and usually only a threat in the spring and early summer.

It Got Better

Is anybody going to address the newly invasive species of BuJo enthusiasts into the craft store/art supply store environment? Why aren’t we talking about the dangerous proliferation of Leuchtturm 1917s and the growing threat of Dotted Moleskins? I had to liberate a Dad from a tangle of washi tape in the art supply store the other day and it wasn’t pretty.

The natural habitat of journalers was stationary stores, which have been replaced by office supplies stores, not the same. Journalers invade the craft stores and art supplies stores to get the markers and washi tape and Sakura pens they require for survival.

@great-art-and-a-purple-tongue @onbearfeet THE LORE HAS BEEN UPDATED.

VERY IMPORTANT AND ENTIRELY ACCURATE now excuse me I gotta hit Lowes and Michaels.

Another thing to note is all of those habitats must adapt to the seasonal migration of goths. As soon as the faintest hint of spooky can be detected at those stores, goths will arrive in packs. A small pack of goths determined to forage can strip the shelves of a seasonal section bare in 30 minutes.

Agatha Heterodyne is amazing. She has two dead parents and her father was raised to be the ruler of an evil city state with an army of demonic super soldiers super soldiers and a region known as the flesh pits and a reputation of razing Europe to the ground once a generation and he decided to be a hero and single handedly brought peace to a continent that had been destroyed by feuding megalomaniacs for over two hundred years through sheer charisma and brilliance until he mysteriously disappeared fighting a zombie apocalypse, and twenty years later his town is so reformed it's a tourist destination and there's an entire type of commedia del arte troupe modeled after him.

But the narrative actually revolves around her mom.

To be fair, the peace Barry and Bill brought died after they disappeared. It's heavily implied it's the Empire that brought the current peace and "tamed" Mechancisburg. (After all Bill and Barry wanted nothing to do with the town and stayed away as often as possible, and other than the Great Hospital I didn't get the impression that they wanted outsiders to see it either.)

And the taming of Mechancisburg would be gone if Agatha wasn't as peaceful as she was...

I desperately want a Girl Genius TTRPG that isn't using GURPS.

Nothing against people who like GURPS it's just... Too much for me.

That said, if anything would get me to learn GURPS it would be the Girl Genius TTRPG that is already released for it.

Also need friends to play it with but no one matches my schedule.

Atomic Robo RPG can play Girl Genius out of the box.

I'm also working, on and off, on a Cortex hack that plays it.

Man, I haven't thought about Atomic Robo in years! I've never used the Fate System, but that's good to know. I've never even heard of Cortex Prime, but awesome!

Yeah, it already has Pulp action and SCIENCE! as well as invention rules and brainstorming for easy adventure creation. Keep the invention rules for major inventions and you got a pretty good base.

Its fun. It's a bit like fate with a lot more wiggle room and a normal d4-d12 set of dice (you don't use d20s). When I finally get a sketch of the hack done I'll try and remember to post it on here.

Wait. Wait wait wait.

He's from Mechanicsburg. The leader of the Black Squad is the one who said he was born and raised in Mechanicsburg. *That's* why he's the only who hasn't been turned into a revenant! He's been drinking that good, good monster!fluoridated water.

Ohh, if he's a Mechancisburger I'm calling him as one of Higgs' great-great many times great nephews. He has the same overall feeling as him.

I desperately want a Girl Genius TTRPG that isn't using GURPS.

Nothing against people who like GURPS it's just... Too much for me.

That said, if anything would get me to learn GURPS it would be the Girl Genius TTRPG that is already released for it.

Also need friends to play it with but no one matches my schedule.

Atomic Robo RPG can play Girl Genius out of the box.

I'm also working, on and off, on a Cortex hack that plays it.

Chapter 21: More Lost Than Ever.

Higgs was left to die--no, he was lost in Skfiander, which was once again lost to her, to her relief and pain anew--The Brek'kah stone was gone. The artifacts gone. Agatha had passed out for three days after Zeetha couldn't help her at all.

But now Agatha wake and they can move froward.

Through a Lost Princess's Eyes is the Girl Genius Story post timeskip from Zeetha's point of view. It is mostly canon compliant so far, though I've adjusted some things (No more than you see between the comic and novels though, I think.) and will have an uncanon Skifander (Since I've implied to much already.)

y'all ever reach the end of google

I'm starting to gain insight into why people turn into conspiracy theorists. Some topics are so totally neglected that it looks like they were intentionally and maliciously erased, instead of falling victim to arbitrary lack of interest.

I think it's a vicious cycle; when people don't know something exists, they're not curious about it. Also, people use conceptual categories to think about things, and when a topic falls between or outside of conceptual categories, it can end up totally omitted from our awareness even though it very much exists and is important.

This post is about native bamboo in the United States and the fact that miles-wide tracts of the American Southeast used to be covered in bamboo forests

@icannotgetoverbirds It already is a maddening, bizarre research hole that I have been down for the past few weeks.

Basically, I learned that we have native bamboo, that it once formed an ecosystem called the canebrake that is now critically endangered. The Southeastern USA used to be full of these bamboo thickets that could stretch for miles, but now the bamboo only exists in isolated patches

And THEN.

I realized that there is a little fragment of a canebrake literally in my neighborhood.

HI I AM NOW OBSESSED WITH THIS.

I did not realize the significance until I showed a picture to the ecologist where i work and his reaction was "Whoa! That is BIG."

Apparently extant stands of river cane are mostly just...little sparse thickety patches in forest undergrowth. This patch is about a quarter acre monotypic stand, and about ten years old.

I dive down the Research Hole(tm). Everything new I learn is wilder. Giant river cane mainly reproduces asexually. It only flowers every few decades and the entire clonal colony often dies after it flowers. Seeds often aren't viable.

It's barely been studied enough to determine its ecological significance, but there are five butterfly species and SEVEN moth species dependent on river cane. Many of these should probably be listed as endangered but there's not enough research

There's a species of CRITICALLY ENDANGERED PITCHER PLANT found in canebrakes that only still remains in TWO SPECIFIC COUNTIES IN ALABAMA

Some gardening websites list its height as "over 6 feet" "Over 10 feet" There are living stands that are 30+ feet tall, historical records of it being over 40 feet tall or taller. COLONIAL WRITINGS TALK ABOUT CANES "AS THICK AS A MAN'S THIGH."

The interval between flowering is anyone's guess, and WHY it happens when it does is also anyone's guess. Some say 40-50 years, but there are records of it blooming in as little time as 3-15 years.

It is a miracle plant for filtering pollution. It absorbs 99% of groundwater nitrate contaminants. NINETY NINE PERCENT. It is also so ridiculously useful that it was a staple of Native American material culture everywhere it grew. Baskets! Fishing poles! Beds! Flutes! Mats! Blowguns! Arrows! You name it! You can even eat the young shoots and the seeds.

I took these pictures myself. This stuff in the bottom photo is ten feet tall if it's an inch.

Arundinaria itself is not currently listed as endangered, but I'm growing more and more convinced that it should be. The reports of seeds being usually unviable could suggest very low genetic diversity. You see, it grows in clonal colonies; every cane you see in that photo is probably a clone. The Southern Illinois University research project on it identified 140 individual sites in the surrounding region where it grows.

The question is, are those sites clonal colonies? If so, that's 140 individual PLANTS.

Also, the consistent low estimates of the size Arundinaria gigantea attains (6 feet?? really??) suggests that colonies either aren't living long enough to reach mature size or aren't healthy enough to grow as big as they are supposed to. I doubt we have any clue whatsoever about how its flowers are pollinated. We need to do some research IMMEDIATELY about how much genetic diversity remains in existing populations.

@motherfucking-dragons

it's called the Alabama Canebrake Pitcher Plant and there are, in total, 11 known sites where it still grows.

in general i'm feral over the carnivorous plant variety of the Southeastern USA. we have SO many super-rare carnivorous plants!!!

Protect the wetlands. Protect the canebrakes because the canebrakes protect the wetlands.

Many years ago I did some (non-academic) research on native canes in the USA because I thought I remembered seeing a bamboo-like something in the wild that I'd been told was native, and I thought it might make a nice landscaping accent. But the sources I found said something like "unlike Asian bamboos, the American equivilant barely reaches the height of a man", and I went "nah, that is exactly the wrong height for anything." But if it gets 10 feet and up, I think there are a lot of people who would be VERY happy to use it as a sight barrier in public and private landscaping, and if it means putting in a bit of a wetland/rain garden, all the better. The lack of a good native equivelant to bamboo is something I have heard numerous people bemoan. Obviously it's very important to protect wild sites and expand those, but if it'd be helpful, I bet it wouldn't be hard to convince landscapers to start new patches too.

For instance, a lot of housing developments, malls, etc. seem to set aside a percentage of their land for semi-wild artificial wetlands (drainage maybe?) planted with natives, and then block the messy view with walls of arbovitae or clump bamboo from asia - perhaps it would be a better option there?

Good Lord. Arundinaria isn't just a better option, it's perfect.

I was in the canebrake near my house again this morning, and river cane is extraordinarily good at completely blocking the view of anything beyond it. It is bushier and leafier than Asian bamboos, and birds like to build nests in it. It would make a fantastic privacy barrier.

The cane near my house is around 10-12 feet tall. This species can reach 30 feet or more, but I think it needs ideal conditions or to be part of a large colony with a robust system of rhizomes or something.

It grows slowly compared to Asian bamboos, and seems to need some shade to establish, so it would take time to become a good barrier, but no worse than those stupid arborvitae.

plants like this were often intentionally cultivated in planter boxes as a form of water filtration and civil engineering by a bunch of indigenous nations.

There's a reason why Native Americans cultivated canebrakes.

Well, several reasons. As y'all may know, bamboo is stronger than any wood, and therefore it makes a fantastic building material.

The Cherokee used, and still use, river cane to make fishing poles, fish traps, arrows, frames for structures, musical instruments, mats, pipes, and absolutely gorgeous double-woven baskets that can even hold water.

This stuff is, no joke, a viable alternative to plastic for a lot of things. The seeds and shoots are also edible.

Uh I know this is out of left field but I work in plant cloning - it's a lot easier than you'd think to do for plants and it's honestly a really important conservation tool, and good for making a TON of seedlings in a short amount of time. I can look into this genus for like, cloning viability?

I know about reproducing plants from cuttings, rhizome cuttings have proven doable with this species.

Hi y'all, reblogging the Canebrake Post again. It's been over a year since I fell in love with the coolest plant ever. I'm trying to bring it back but I am very small so if any of y'all have a Canebrake nearby you might wanna talk to the owners and contact some local parks and nature preserves yeah?

A lot of people are asking how to distinguish Rivercane from invasive bamboo species. This link should help you!

Here's some distinguishing traits I've observed myself:

Some more cool stuff i've found out—River cane was a common food of bison! Earliest European settlers reported canebrakes so big that "100 bison could graze on a single canebrake." Apparently it used to make extremely high quality forage for livestock, before it was mostly destroyed.

European settlers apparently set their pigs loose in the canebrakes purposefully to destroy them, because the pigs would root up the nutritious rhizomes and kill the plant. Thinking of the relationship between Bison and Canebrakes, and the relationship between Eastern Native Americans and Canebrakes, and the relationship between Plains Native Americans and Bison...it seems like a pattern, huh?

In the case of both bison and canebrakes, they were a fundamental part of their ecosystem, and fundamental part of the indigenous cultures that used them for every material, their musical instruments, their homes, their most advanced arts, and even food (Rivercane shoots are edible just like other bamboo, and supposedly the seeds are edible too!) but European settlers purposefully destroyed the species almost completely. I can't help but wonder if there was a similar motivation.

Books that talk about Rivercane:

By the way, though, if you read any very early European account of Kentucky, the word "cane" is everywhere. It's just such a nondescript word it's hard to realize its significance.

On a more personal note...god, I love this plant. Here's another photo I took. When you're in the canebrake, it feels so cut off from the rest of the world; it's shaded, quiet, cool, and someone 10 yards away couldn't even see you.

i actually talked to my neighbor that I learned owns the canebrake. She had no idea what it was but she was excited to learn about it! It was a lovely conversation.

Apparently, she knew I had been down there a bunch of times and thought nothing of it. She said "Yeah I told my husband, If you see her down there, just leave her alone she's doing her thing." In the most sincere way possible, God bless this woman

She said I could transplant all I wanted, too. This was great! ...but I quickly learned how RIDICULOUSLY HARD it is to transplant from a canebrake of this size. The rhizomes are so big and tough, a shovel can hardly get through them, and unless you're at the edge of the canebrake, there's a thick mat of them going every which way. I was driving my whole weight down on this shovel and it kept just denting the rhizome and glancing off.

I did get some transplants but each one took like half an hour because I was fighting for my life!

Also, with a canebrake this size, it doesn't grow little canes that will later become bigger—it shoots up tall canes in a single season. The youngest canes, more accessible and toward the edge of the canebrake, were significantly taller than I was. I cut the top off of one transplant for ease of handling—I had a pair of hand pruners with me that were usually perfectly useful for small limbs, but I could barely get these things through the cane, it's just so strong and dense.

Someone research the material properties of this stuff ASAP. It's insanely strong.

Hi everyone, it's the river cane post again!

Here is some YouTube videos that talk about river cane!

These videos barely have any views or comments, but y'all can help! We can spread the knowledge.

Hi everyone.

This is exactly what you think it is.

So i'm in contact with a couple of plant nurseries.

@just-a-speck @kuhu

Wait. Wait wait wait.

He's from Mechanicsburg. The leader of the Black Squad is the one who said he was born and raised in Mechanicsburg. *That's* why he's the only who hasn't been turned into a revenant! He's been drinking that good, good monster!fluoridated water.

I think it's the Dyne water, as the castle dose point out, it dose no "interesting" effects anymore, so it still dose something.

eh wait if zeetha is going to meet klaus to tell him about gil being missing

are we going to bring up the part about his other idiot kid ???

Seeing as Zeetha has already proven she can hold Klaus back for a bit (Post Stumhulten, she even manages to escape his pin as she's on her feet when Agatha's circus comes to life.) and she has Bang to help her, it's the getting him to listen that is the tricky part. (Which, yeah...)

So I think this is Zeetha making the decision to try and distract him by telling him who she is to him, hoping it calms him down enough to listen. Especially as Bang's uses kid instead of son here (Not that she knows, but as foreshadowing.)

(And maybe hinting at Zeetha deep down not being as convinced that her father loves her or loves her as much as Gil seeing as she was the one left behind, but that's neither here nor there.)

And all this assumes that as soon as the timestop drops they time monster doesn't get much faster and swipe Klaus from them.

Cracking me up that the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony is what Europan Paris is like ALL THE TIME.

There are creatures in the catacombs that will eat you. There are intrepid parties of kid explorers who probably need rescuing. Masked figures parkour across the rooftops.

Artwork comes to life. Mechanical ships sail through the streets. Opera makes things explode. Black women SLAY in a variety of genres.

ART IS HAPPENING. People are flying through the air. Fashion is happening. Fashion is happening to you.

There are threesomes in the library. There are submarines in the Seine. Statues are rising from the river. What if we try space travel, oh we got distracted. Queerness takes over bridges and throws parties. That one guy has definitely turned himself blue.

Mechanical horses run down the Seine. The Eiffel Tower shoots laser beams. Hot air balloons float through the sky.

If a river monster puts its head up, no one will be at all surprised.

(Also, there are minions.)

This is Europan Paris every damn day.

...Good luck, Colette! Have fun being in charge of all that!