Slow your Roll

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

today I found out my mother doesn’t know what dandelions are and now I’m wondering what other strange secrets she’s been quietly harboring

[krystal-prisms]

Where do you live that you don’t have dandelions?

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

we have dandelions EVERYWHERE, they are basically our State Weed, it is absolutely impossible that my mom has never interacted with a dandelion before, this requires further investigation

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

So after extensive interrogation I have an update:

my mom is in fact aware that dandelions exist. she temporarily forgot the name and there was some miscommunication.

the truth is actually weirder

she’s aware dandelions look like this

she is familiar with this flower. she knows the name of this flower. she declines to believe, however, that these are also dandelions

she does not believe these are the same plant. I tried to explain, and she thought I was either misinformed or lying. so I asked her what exactly did she think the yellow ones were called?

she answered, with complete confidence: Daffodils.

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

gosh I enjoy this website

[authoratmidnight]

For comparison, this is a daffodil

[quietlygrousing]

See, folks in the southern US will tell you up and down those are buttercups, actually.

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

i don’t think so? i’m southern and buttercups are what we call these things (much tinier)

[maejacrezz007]

Wait I thought those bigger cup ones were Easter Lillies???

[fractiousrvt]

This is an Easter Lily. It is an actual lily and therefore deadly to cats.

[blood-trip-god2]

They’re marigolds and I know a bitch when I see one!

[delphinidin4]

This is a marigold:

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

….we need to start taking the phrase “go touch grass” more literally. go outside and examine a flower i beg u

[jmtorres]

“buttercups” is a name applied to MANY flowers. in my part of the south it was this one:

imo there’s correct identifications of dandelions, daffodils, easter lilies and marigolds in this thread, but buttercups are simply impossible to agree on and the only solution is for everyone to post pictures of their local buttercups

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

*squints* is that a motherfucking EVENING PRIMROSE?!??

[demon-and-human]

Hello I would like to add to the confusion:

That purple fella is a Morning Glory as told by my mothers (texan)

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

⬆️ morning glory

[huehueiamabaguette]

wait so if thats morning glory what is this?

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

[delphinidin4]

*Puts hand over gaud’s mouth* It’s a butterfly pea. Please ignore the Latin name.

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

*licks ur palm* i won’t be silenced THE PEOPLE HAVE TO KNOW

[manu-script]

awww the like button turns into a rainbow when you press it! that's so cute...hey staff what's with all the trans women you keep nuking?

[axodendritic]

[cerastes]

cool

[cerastes]

Kinda crazy that I started this blog 14 years ago as a bright eyed young man full of hope and now I’m a 9 to 5ing middle aged woman full of mold, that’s time for you.

[cerastes]

April’s Fools! I am a man.

[cerastes]

The reviews are in! They are hanging my corpse outside the Museum of Modern Arts with chains.

[goldensunset]

advice i think we should tell children is that when adults say stuff like ‘now that i’m an adult i get really excited about stuff like coffee tables and bathrooms and rugs etc’ they don’t mean ‘and now i don’t care about blorbo and squimbus from my childhood tv shows anymore’ bc your average adult still loves all the same pop culture stuff they always did; they just have a greater appreciation for the mundane as well. growing up just means you can enjoy life twice as much now. you can get really excited about a new stuffed animal AND about a new kitchen sponge. peace and love

[concerningwolves]

You get bigger so you can store even MORE love and appreciation for the world inside of you

[monsieurenjlolras]

It means you'll be at the antique mall looking at a coffee table and thinking "blorbo and Squimbus would LOVE this coffee table"

[kushblazer666]

[sabrebash]

gen beta

[byjove]

a lot of mutts are also inbred as fuck, I think that is also an important thing to note. just because your dog is no breed in particular does not mean that their parents were not siblings, especially if your dog came from a hoarding situation, an accidental litter, was the result of a backyard breeder or was from a feral/stray population. I do not say this to demean mutts, I love mutts. it’s just really funny when someone says “my shelter dog is not inbred” to demean (responsible) purebred dog owners. you don’t know that. the area I grew up in had a large feral dog population and they all looked similar because inbreeding is a regular problem in feral/invasive domesticated animal populations. same with stray cats, those thangs have family wreaths.

[byjove]

In an ideal world, every single dog should be from a planned litter from two thoroughly health-screened parents and adopters already lined up. We do not live in that world and I doubt we ever will. Adopt or shop responsibly but know that getting a mixed breed dog does not necessarily grantee your dog will be safe from health issues and it may be more difficult to identify genetic or more typical breed specific health concerns since you do not know your dog’s background. Which is fine, as I said I love mutts and I grew up with them. It can be heartbreaking to have no warning and no idea what to look out for.

[mysharona1987]

[ghost-mantis]

There’s actually a few things here that majorly dropped childhood mortality. In no particular order these include…

Vaccines (yay!)

Pasteurization

Implementing and enforcing food quality and sanitation standards. Did you know White Castle was called as such because their gimmic was that they continually cleaned and bleached their stores inside and out to prevent food poisoning.

The invention of antibiotics! The first sulfa drugs dropped in the 1930s-40s

Widespread access and distribution of enriched food products! Enriched flour did a lot to prevent malnutrition, and it’s how Wonderbread got its name!

We got a hell of a lot better with medical care for sick and premature infants. The first incubators for premature babies were actually used as something of a sideshow attraction at Coney Island! It was the only way the doctor who invented them could get funding to keep them running because no one thought it would work. It showed a lot of people that really premature babies could survive with the right treatment and eventually was adopted by hospitals.

The green revolution in agriculture that prevented around a billion people from starving to death

More recently it’s been widespread access to mosquito nets and medication to poorer and rural areas

[byjove]

I do get really really angry when I hear the parents of disabled children say “This is not how I wanted my life to turn out.” or “I didn’t sign up for this.” because yes, yes you did. You took the risk of having a disabled child when you had a child. Your child isn’t disabled to spite you and ruin your dreams of a perfect family. You are the one who brought them into this world. This might sound anti-natalist and shitty of me but so many parents expect their children to be inherently grateful to them for the gift of life and all the good experiences that come along with it and then refuse to acknowledge that they brought a child into this world to live, suffer, die and pay taxes. I get that you as a parent and a caregiver are suffering, that our medical system is severely fucked, that there is an incredible lack of support for disabled people. Your child will be dealing with that for the rest of their life, you opened this chapter of your life but your child will be dependent on highly flawed systems and possibly abusive caregivers for their entire life. These parents (especially in the autism community) turn all of their rage and frustration and hurt outwards and often towards their disabled child instead of learning healthier ways to cope or even taking internal accountability for the fact they did, in fact, bring this child into this situation.

[billydean63]

To warrant this level of distraction PEDOFUHRER MUST BE ON EVERY PAGE OF THE EPSTEIN FILES.

[hetrosjistin]

I've heard people say "oh you only care now that they killed a white man!" and while I hear you, I need you to understand.

A lot of the people posting this shit ALREADY CARED.

The point is trying to get the ASSHOLES who didn't care to know about it so they'll realize they're not safe! That their privilege will not protect them from the fascists.

[spaceshipsandpurpledrank]

[polliantics]

Posting on 1/13/2026

[sereneharbor]

ICE violently detained a Virginia mother while she was driving her daughter to school because she couldn’t recite her Social Security number from memory.

'When she stumbled, the agent got flustered and just lunged at her,' said her 16-year-old daughter. The mother immediately showed proof of her legal status: work permit, Social Security card, driver’s license, and car registration."

"ICE arrested her anyway.

Jaykie Funez-Andrade is now being held in Rockingham County Jail with no criminal charges, reportedly as a 'courtesy' to ICE. The arrest occurred on Route 11 North in Harrisonburg, VA.

'I want this video out there because I want my mother home,' her daughter said."

[2bpoliticallycurious]

This behavior by federal agents is criminal.

[noah-wyles]

one day i'll wake up and donald trump will be dead

[oddarette]

Shuckle, but made out of gummy worms ✨

[vague-humanoid]

For years, Japan tried to keep their existence a secret. But the Ainu people refuse to disappear

Japan's Ainu people have their own history, languages and culture. But, as the victims of colonialism, assimilation and discrimination, much

As a young boy in school, Masaki Sashima would be dragged out of his classroom and beaten by his fellow students.

Masaki, now 72, was different to the other kids. 

He was Ainu, an Indigenous people from the country's northern regions, most notably the large island of Hokkaido.

"During recess, the hallway door would open, and several guys would yell at me to come out," he said.

"I clung to my desk in the classroom and kept quiet.

"Everyone would surround me and beat me."

Japan has long portrayed itself as culturally and ethnically homogenous, something that some have even argued is a key to its success as a nation.

More than 98 per cent of Japanese people are descendants of the Yamato people. 

But the Ainu are distinct, with their own history, languages, and culture.

But, as the victims of colonialism, assimilation, and discrimination, much of that identity has been lost. 

[andnowanowl-deactivated20260413]

An Ainu woman named Chiri Yukie wrote down some of her people's oral traditions into Japanese because, as a child, her people were being displaced by Japanese settlers in Hokkaido. Her language was disappearing, so she (ironically) saw translating the stories into Japanese as a way to preserve them. She died at age 19.

[rumade]

Some of the objects from the Ainu exhibition at Japan House in London this year, showcasing traditional Ainu skills and culture. There is a campaign to get Ainu recognised as an official language, at least in Hokkaido, and small steps are happening, for example, bilingual bus stops. It reminds me of the struggle for Welsh to be revived after suppression for centuries.

[snow-nose]

second image ID: the cover of The Song The Owl God Sang: The collected Ainu legends of Chiri Yukie, Translated into English by Benjamin Peterson. end ID

[mizoguchi]

Also, this is a good short ~25 minute documentary that shows Ainu people fighting to recover their ancestral bones and bodies from Hokkaido University that's worth a watch.

[ohnoitstbskyen]

This is something which it is extremely important to understand about Japan as a nation. It has a national and international narrative about itself as a unified, geographically and culturally consistent polity, but from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south, to the Ryukyuan island chain near Taiwan (and well beyond at various times), the Japanese have undertaken imperial conquest and colonization of their nearby territories, and have attempted brutal assimilation or eradication of the indigenous people of those places, and the Japanese government has historically been wildly resistant to recognizing those minority groups as minority groups, likely in part because it would commit the country to offering them appropriate legal protections.

Japan IS ethnically diverse, Japan IS linguistically diverse, it IS culturally diverse, and the portrayal of Japan as a homogenous society is a portrayal which serves the political aims of particular groups, often the far right and conservative wings of Japanese society, and certainly the apologists for empire.

To grab a quote from Wikipedia:

Initially, to justify Imperial Japan's conquest of Continental Asia, Imperial Japanese propaganda espoused the ideas of Japanese supremacy by claiming that the Japanese represented a combination of all East Asian peoples and cultures, emphasizing heterogeneous traits. Imperial Japanese propaganda started to place an emphasis on the ideas of racial purity and the supremacy of the Yamato race when the Second Sino-Japanese War intensified. Fuelled by the ideology of racial supremacy, racial purity, and national unity between 1868 and 1945, the Meiji and Imperial Japanese government carefully identified and forcefully assimilated marginalized populations, which included Okinawans, the Ainu, and other underrepresented non-Yamato groups, imposing assimilation programs in language, culture and religion.