All Aboard the Brain Train

With stops at Information Station, Instruction Junction, Learning Turning, Knowledge College, and the Education Situation / Erudition Position.

[elbdot]

Hey @staff? :) H E L P ((Shoutout to my Patrons for supporting this animated sh*tpost!))

[kim-hu]

Hey guys, I’m just saying--

If you’re fresh from twitter or some other place and just signed up, please at least change your pfp to SOMETHING. ANYTHING. Scribble glasses on the default pic if you want, anything to tell me you’re human.

Whenever I share a link on Twitter or such I get lots of followers with default pic that I have a feel is fresh users that just cannot be bothered to change the pfp yet. But to us you look like bots and I’m always in a pinch if I should block you or not. 🥲

[thingsofimportanceanddelight]

If not your profile picture, at least change your blog title. Description. Post something. Anything. Anything at all to indicate that you are a real human being. Or else you get reported and blocked.

[homunculus-argument]

 Hey btw, another worldbuilding thing: You can, and actually should have weird and impractical cultural things. They’re not inherently unrealistic, for as long as you address the realistic consequences as well.

 Let’s say you’ve got a city where there’s tame white doves everywhere. They’re not pests, they’re regarded as sacred, holy protectors of the city, and the whole city cares for them and feeds them like they’re pets. They’re so tame because it’s a social taboo to hurt or scare one. Nice pretty doves :)

 Then someone points out that even if they’re not seen as pests, doesn’t having a completely unchecked feral pigeon population - that not only isn’t being culled, but actively fed and cared for - mean that there would be bird shit absolutely all over the place?

 A part of you wants to say no, because these are your nice, pretty doves. To explain that there’s a reason why they’re not shitting all over the place, maybe they’re super-intelligent and specifically bred and trained to not shit all over the place. The logistics of how, exactly, could anyone breed and train a flock of feral birds go unaddressed.

 An even worse solution would be to not have those birds, editing them out of the world. No, they spark joy, you can’t just toss them out!

 Now, consider: Yes, yes they would, but the city also has an extensive public sanitation service that’s occupied 90% of the time by cleaning bird shit off of everything. One of the most common last names in the area actually translates to “one who scrapes off dove shit”, and it’s a highly respected occupation. And thanks to the sheer necessity of constantly regularly cleaning everything, the city enjoys a much higher standard of cleanliness, and less public health issues caused by poor public sanitation.

 The doves do protect the city. By shitting fucking everywhere.

[moonybyte]

While I absolutely love your idea, I just want to say that you can easily reduce public bird shitting from Pigeons by offering them comfortable lodgings where they can sleep and feed. Sure, you need to clean THOSE, but the pigeons shit a lot less all over town.

The Augsburg concept has one big pigeon house every 500m in which wild pigeons are fed, protected from weather and have nesting opportunities. Cities doing that have WAY less uncontrolled populations (since they can take out eggs if they feel they need reduce the population), way less shit AND a healthy population since it’s easier for veterinarians to notice and get to sick animals.

So I’d say one can of course still keep your general idea……but there’s also those MASSIVE palace-like pidgeon houses and only the most worthy are allowed to enter and directly interact with the pigeons (feed them, heal them, clean their lodgings). One big entrance for the human servants (priests??) and millions of small holes for the pigeons.

In fact, one could potentially turn your idea around IN THE PIDGEONS FAVOR. So your world is like ours and most major cities have a big feral pigeon population. And most of those cities HATE the pigeons and try to fight them and stuff. And they think that pigeon worshipper town is frigging cuckoo. BUT when comparing, then pigeon worshipper town is ridiculously clean and beautiful. No bird shit everywhere, no ruined house facades and statues from erosion through bird poop. Pigeon haters go “how tf are you so clean, you have birds EVERYWHERE???” and the worshippers shrug and show their little bird temples spread around town that keep their precious birdies AND their town pretty.

[plucky-passerine]

I think this is a really good example of how research can greatly improve your worldbuilding! You don’t have to be perfectly accurate - it is fantasy after all - but the real world is so much more clever and beautiful than any of us know

[curlicuecal]

advice that’s stuck with me: you don’t have to work inwards to justify a premise (e.g., ‘how would it ever be plausible to use snakes as currency’) as long as you work outwards in interesting ways from that premise (e.g., ‘how would a society that used snakes as currency look different? what would they use for wallets?’)

[gholateg]

I love this idea that OP thought there wasn’t a town that had already handled it’s “We fucking love birds you guys, like for fucking reals” problem already through sheer human chutzpah.

Humans are THE pack binding specie. A way will be found.

[shaudo-of-a-doubt]

For anyone else interested in or looking for more information about pigeon houses, the traditional word for them is dovecote.

[queerasfact]

It’s Women’s History Month! Throughout the month we’re celebrating queer women in history and media – meet Lucy Hicks Anderson!

Lucy was born in 1886 in rural Kentucky. Despite being assigned male at birth Lucy always dressed in girls’ clothes, and was encouraged by her mother and local doctor to live life as a girl.

In 1926, Lucy moved to Oxnard, California, where she quickly made a name for herself as a respected in her community, raising money during WWII for soldiers abroad, and supporting their families at home. Lucy worked as a cook and housekeeper, and also ran brothels.

In 1945, Lucy was arrested following a raid on her brothel, which ultimately led to three separate trials around her gender presentation. She served around 18 months in prison, charged with perjury and fraud.

Throughout her trials, the community of Oxnard remained supportive of Lucy. Some even seem to have already known she was trans, and simply accepted it. Her obituary in the Oxnard Press-Courier reads: “Nobody in Oxnard mocked Lucy. ... Lucy continued to wear women’s clothes, continued to call herself Lucy Hicks Anderson. That was the name she was using when she died…”

You can hear more of Lucy’s story in our podcast!

[orteil42]

given the current climate this pride especially i feel i must mention that i love my trans friends, i stand with trans people in the fight against transphobic legislation and those who would enforce it, and this blog is not a good place for you to be if you do not vibe with that

[horse-breed-a-day]

Horse breed of the day: Stationbred

Height: 15-17hh

Common coat colors: Bay, grey, black and chestnut

Place of Origin: New Zealand

[track2hack]

!!!!AYO KIWI SPECIFIC THING MENTIONED!!!!

Stationbreds are horses bred on high country stations for the purpose of being good minded, hardy, athletic, sure-footed and versatile mounts suitable for mustering sheep or beef, hunters, eventers, and safe fun allrounders for the whole family to enjoy. They’re typically first draft crosses (almost always a purebred Clydesdale or shire stallion) over more refined and hot blooded mares to produce a heavier, stockier horse with substantial bone that’s a comfy ride with a sensible brain, but still keeping the get-up-and-go/go all day eagerness and engine of lighter “bloodier” horses like thoroughbreds, warmbloods, arabs, etc., thought they aren’t limited to just those breeds - many stations include standardbred (gaited stations are often called “amblers”), gypsy cob, welsh cob, and stock/quarter horse lines! These horses are typically raised untouched/unhandled and left to grow up wild in the steep high country terrain which gives them the surefootedness and hardiness the breed is so well known for, with most being brought in for handling and breaking in their 3 and 4yo years.

Stationbreds across NZ are incredibly successful at all levels of the sport and growing in popularity overseas too - at the last biannual St James Station sale in 2025, buyers from NZ and Australia snapped up all 30 lots on offer for a total profit of $180,000NZD, with the top lot (an untouched grey 3yo filly) selling for $12,100NZD.

A small selection of the many stations known for producing our incredible horses-

St James Station, Hanmer Springs (South Island) - my grandad mustered St James when it was still just a sheep station and my family has been to multiple of their sales, so it’s a bit of a home hero for me 🙈 The Stevenson family owned the station from 1927-2009 and began their horse breeding journey with 4 stallions - an imported in-utero Clydesdale (grandad said they called him Wiley after the fella who bought him) a thoroughbred, a pony, and a hack, which were all turned out with their own band of mares to produce the next generation of musterers. From there the four types amalgamated into what’s known as the St James horses today, surefooted mares descended from the original four studs with a half-clydie herd sire to produce the next generations

St James was sold to the government in 2009 as a heritage site where DOC took over the management of the land, but family still controls the feral horses contained in the Ada Valley and surround. Because of careful DOC management the station available to the public for tramping, camping, hiking and BYO horse trekking with designated trails and camping huts all over the station (seriously worth going out for a couple nights if you’re in the area!!)

——-

Hangaroa Landcruisers, Tiniroto (North Island) - along with breeding stationbreds, Hangaroa also owns what was originally the only fully licensed purebred Cleveland Bay stallion in the southern hemisphere, Texlea St Oliver, who was imported to New Zealand in 2022. Many of their stationbred mares and foals have Cleveland Bay blood in them, though Oliver retired from breeding duties in 2024 at the ripe old age of 20.

They continue the Cleveland Bay breeding with their new stud Rocky (Bridlington Farm Saltaire) and hopefully their stations keep that blood in them for a long time coming! 🤞

Top: Texlea St Oliver, bottom: Bridlington Farm Saltaire

——-

Muzzle Station, Kaikōura (South Island)

——-

Billy Maaka Horses, Mangatu (North Island)

——-

Blue Mountain Station, Fairlie (South Island)

——-

And of course she doesn’t come from a station but I can’t talk about stationbreds without mentioning my own Ouruhia Gem 🤭 Her grandsire is the incredible stationbred stallion Kaha Warrior who bred many GP/Pony GP show jumpers as well as being a PGP winner himself!

[retropopcult]

New York circa 1910. "Polo Grounds and Harlem River Speedway." (via Shorpy)

[the1920sinpictures]

In this 1919 photo you can see the still semi-rural character of central Bronx prior to the great building boom of the 1920s. Looking northwest from Tremont Avenue and the Grand Concourse. From New York City Images: 1850-1980, FB.

[snototter]

Pando, a quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) in Utah. Though this looks like a forest of many trees, each tree is a genetically identical 'clone' of the mother tree, all belonging to the same 14,000 year old root system. Pando is one of the largest and longest living organisms in the world.

by Dan Brekke

[blumineck]

Putting the “arch” into “archery”

more of all this nonsense on Patreon

[anniensmoke3]

Black History👸🏾🤎🤴🏾

@guardian_us In Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, the Smokestack twins – a gangster pair played by Michael B Jordan – return to their Mississippi Delta home town to open a juke joint and make a fast buck, only to wind up hunkered inside when danger literally comes knocking.⁠

⁠But the juke joint is more than a safe space from cinematic monsters.⁠

⁠During the late 19th and early 20th century, the juke joint was a southern social institution, the place to drink and unwind over live music. The vast majority of them were owned and operated by Black people.⁠

⁠They were on the same social continuum with the Black church, the south’s other cornerstone institution. The juke joint was for Saturday night, the church for Sunday morning.⁠

⁠Throughout its 137-minute runtime, Sinners plays with the cognitive dissonance in the symbiosis between the church and the juke joint – starting with the twins’ guitar hero cousin Sammie (Miles Caton) breaking away from his preacher father to play the blues at their new juke.⁠

⁠“It’s a nice journey in history,” says Kristen Warner, a Cornell University media studies professor. “You get to see Black folks be Black folks in this small town, and they all have these stories that are ellipses, that you can just pick back up on.”⁠

⁠Swipe to see photographs of juke joints in the 1930s and 40s, and follow the link in bio to read more.⁠

⁠Photos: Library of Congress archive and Warner Bros. Pictures

[thefloralmenace]

If you're struggling with the cost of living right now (reasonable), this is your PSA to...

Google universities/colleges near you.

If you can't get out to more than one, look up which one has the highest tuition.

Look-up when the graduation date is

Drive neighborhoods near the university the week before graduation

So much stuff gets left out on the curb. Wealthy college students tend to prioritize convenience over money, so instead of carefully reselling their perfectly good stuff, they frequently give it away or put it out with the trash because that's easier than moving, reselling, or donating. Take advantage of this.

I furnished pretty much my entire apartment from college giveaways and yardsales.

What I got for free:

Mattress and box springs

2 10 ft area rugs

The massive 9-drawer chest (that has a label on the back that it was custom-made and shipped across the country) that my TV sits on.

Two 13 x 2 ft raised garden beds

My desk - just sanded it down and refinished it.

Three short stools

An organizer rack

Watering can

Tommy Bahama outdoor cooler (retails for $350)

Chairs

Shelves

What I got for cheap:

Two futons for $50

Custom coffee table with storage for $25

Three tall stools for $30

[thefloralmenace]

Seeing all the tags where people are warning that picking stuff up OFF the curb is illegal in their area has the same vibes as the oranges in Grapes of Wrath, and I hope all your city councilmen get eaten by the live furniture from Monty Python.

[nemfrog]

Color plate of mushrooms drawn by Adolphe Millot, published in the French encyclopedia Larousse Pour Tous, ca. 1909.

Each example is categorized by a letter. C = Comestible (edible) V = Vénéneux (poisonous) I = Indifférent —neither harmful nor useful, not worth eating but won't hurt you S = Suspect — meaning the mushroom's safety is uncertain or debated, not definitively poisonous but not to be trusted.

Internet Archive

[michaelmoonsbookshop]

Early 20th century Edwardian Passport dated September 27th 1901

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Hotel suites on Park Avenue, $5-6 per day, 1930s.

Photos: Alamy

[gefdreamsofthesea]

This is.....niche. Do period-appropriate chickens even still exist? Idk anything about chickens. I like the fancy ones.

[vergess]

Period appropriate chickens ("heritage breeds") do still exist, and even include some very fancy ladies, such as:

The Brahma, a popular giant known for its massive meat production and comically large eggs.

The cochin, seen here with gold and black 'lace' pattern

The barred plymouth, an incredible forager for lightly wooded terrain

The fayoumi, often regarded as The Oldest Breed of chicken

The wyandotte, a particularly good forager as well as a bulky, meaty bird.

The Minorca, a Spanish bird with stunning black feathers

And of course, the famous indonesian ayam cemani, which has black meat and bones

Old timey chickens often ARE the 'fancy' ones!

[bethanydelleman]

I love this incredibly niche complaint! Get some heritage breeds, they do totally still exist. Same could likely be said about some other animals like pigs, sheep, and cows.

[earhartsease]

heritage chicken post

[writingwithcolor]

Avoiding Orientalist Language While Writing MENA Characters in Historical Setting

Anonymous asked:

I have a question around linguistics within dialogue: my story is set in the early crusades with a character list that include European Christians, Middle Eastern Muslims, and Middle Eastern Christians. As - particularly during this time period - characters coming from different backgrounds would have different linguistical styles, I’m trying to avoid my Middle Eastern characters using expressions that are clearly of English origin, note which characters are speaking which language where necessary, and include transliterated Arabic words/phrases when appropriate. (Your ‘how to convey arabic language in a specific dialect is being spoken without lengthy descriptions of how words/specific letters are pronounced?’ answer was really helpful here, thank you!) However as a non-Arabic, English speaker I’m also wary of ‘over-peppering’ these Arabic idioms to the extent that the Europeans’ dialogue comes across as ‘standard’ and the Middle Eastern characters’ as ‘exotic’ (I’m conscious that overly formal and ornate language has been a pretty orientalist trope in the past, which I’m trying to avoid). Would you have any recommended rules of thumb on how to keep a good balance, or anything to be wary of/outright avoid here? Thank you so much for any advice you can share!

Love this. I’d try the placeholder method (just made this up.) Honestly, the best thing to do is just write the story first using whatever English expressions come naturally — even if you know they’re super modern or wouldn’t make sense in the time period and setting (like “a dime a dozen” or “barking up the wrong tree”). Don’t stress about making everything historically or culturally perfect right away. That’ll stall the writing process. These non-suitable phrases become ‘placeholders’ to switch out later. 

So keep track of those lines (you can highlight them or jot the the page/line # down somewhere), and then later on, if you know someone who speaks Arabic or is familiar with the culture, ask them to help swap in more fitting phrases, and do a sensitivity read overall. They might not translate word-for-word, but they can help you find alternatives that still match the vibe or emotion of certain idioms. They can also find spots for Arabic idioms that you wouldn’t have expected. 

I found this list from Reddit user AgileCzar about gulf dialect idioms from a decade ago:

خيرها في غيرها - "a better (one) in another (one)". Kind of like better luck next time, but without sarcasm

انا في وادي وانت في وادي - "I am in a valley and you are in a valley" - describes a situation where you and the other person are on different pages, not seeing eye to eye etc...

يوم عسل ويوم بصل - "A day of honey, a day of onions" - a response when someone asks how you're doing. Basically saying some days are good and some are bad.

شو لونك (shoo lunak) - "What's your color" - used in Kuwait as a greeting (like what's up)

I would never have thought to do any of these, but they’re really fun! Scouring the internet for options and figuring out where these go is a total second-pass sort of edit. You don’t want to put pressure on yourself to get it all right on the first draft. It's a lot easier to fix language stuff when you already have the story down.

I do this in scripts a lot when I know something needs to be in Spanish or Arabic, but I’m not clear on the exact wording because finishing the story is more important at that moment.

Good Luck and Happy Writing!

-Melanie 🌻

(Note: this ask has been reviewed and approved by a MENA WWC mod)

[maxofs2d]

Firefox 148 rolls out with the promised AI kill switch: here's how to enable it

The "Block AI Enhancements" toggle was originally introduced in Firefox 148 Nightly in January following significant community backlash afte

The Firefox "AI kill switch" is here.

Go to Settings > AI controls. There, you can toggle the "master kill switch" on to fully block all the features, which means two things:

you won't see them,

you can't even be asked about them.

The default state is, like before, "available". This means the features are NOT on by default (they never were), but Firefox will let you know about them where they exist (e.g. when you create your first tab group) so that you can choose to opt in.

Please note that Firefox for Android or iOS have never included AI features, so you won't see these settings on your smartphones or tablets.

Please also note that, unlike popular belief here on Tumblr, besides "chatbot in sidebar" (which is simply embedding the same page you'd have normally browsed to), none of these features have ever interacted with anything outside your PC, because they download a small model to your computer, to do everything locally. These small models have never been and are not downloaded until you explicitly agree to turn on one of the features.