preacher electric

[ckret2]

time for round 3 of the @need-him-pregnant-poll tournament and here's my propaganda for why you should vote for Aku rather than Gomez Addams: because Gomez would vote for Aku.

If you found this before May 18, the poll's still live. Don't vote for the lesser evil! Vote Aku here!

aku's percentage is climbing, but that'll stop if this post doesn't spread beyond my own followers. by reblogging this post to reach more people, YOU can make a difference in a silly internet poll.

ESPECIALLY if you went "i would've voted for aku if i'd seen this comic first": you have the power to make other people see the comic first.

this may be a doomed battle, but nobody can say I didn't spend 18 hours of my life and all of Mother's Day fighting for Aku. And by god, that's a silly pointless achievement to be proud of.

[adevilonyourshoulder]

when did you start watching supernatural

2005-2010

2010-2015

2015-2020

oh baby, i was here from the very beginning. (2005)

i started after the show ended

Voting ended onFeb 22

y'all have one week!

mine was 2013/14 era. so late but some good seasons tbh, at least it was still fun

[dancinbutterfly]

I clicked the wrong button! I watched the pilot live!

[corbae]

I started 2005 (first and only episode I saw was Bloody Mary) but did my huge binge watch in 2018.

[redstonedust]

ykno what do people usually mean when they say "childhood home" like is it the first place you lived? the longest? theres no way the majority of people lived in one place their WHOLE childhood so like where do you draw the line.....

[redstonedust]

hang on i forgot i have the power of polls

did you live in one "childhood home" for all of your childhood?

yes

no

nuance

Voting ended onOct 12, 2025

[omnifuneral]

been doing a LOT of analog note-taking / journaling / planning lately (new years' resolution fulfilled! yes!), and I've slowly but surely started writing mostly in cursive again.

that said, I'm old (almost 35, ew) so I have questions.

when you're writing on paper, you use...

cursive pretty much ALWAYS

MOSTLY cursive

roughly equal cursive / printing

MOSTLY printing

printing pretty much ALWAYS

what's cursive?

what's paper?

Voting ended onMar 25, 2025

if you want to RB this and put you age / locale / whatever else you think is relevant in the tags, that'd be very cool

[anipgarden]

Some of you may have heard about Monarch butterflies being added to the Threatened species list in the US and be planning to immediately rush out in spring and buy all the milkweed you can manage to do your part and help the species.

And that's fantastic!! Starting a pollinator garden and/or encouraging people and businesses around you to do the same is an excellent way to help not just Monarchs but many other threatened and at-risk pollinator species!

However.

Please please PLEASE do not obtain Tropical Milkweed for this purpose!

Tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica)--also commonly known as bloodflower, Mexican butterflyweed, and scarlet milkweed--will likely be the first species of milkweed you find for sale at most nurseries. It'll be fairly cheap, too, and it grows and propagates so easily you'll just want to grab it! But do not do that!

Tropical milkweed can cause a host of issues that can ultimately harm the butterflies you're trying to help, such as--

Harboring a protozoan parasite called OE (which has been linked to lower migration success, reductions in body mass, lifespan, mating success, and flight ability) for long periods of time

Remaining alive for longer periods, encouraging breeding during migration time/overwintering time as well as keeping monarchs in an area until a hard freeze wherein which they die

Actually becoming toxic to monarch caterpillars when exposed to warmer temperatures associated with climate change

However--do not be discouraged!! There are over 100 species of milkweed native to the United States, and plenty of resources on which are native to your state specifically! From there, you can find the nurseries dedicated to selling native milkweeds, or buy/trade for/collect seeds to grow them yourself!!

The world of native milkweeds is vast and enchanting, and I'm sure you'll soon find a favorite species native to your area that suits your growing space! There's tons of amazing options--whether you choose the beautiful pink vanilla-smelling swamp milkweed, the sophisticated redring milkweed, the elusive purple milkweed, the alluring green antelopehorn milkweed, or the charming heartleaf milkweed, or even something I didn't list!

And there's tons of resources and lots of people willing to help you on your native milkweed journey! Like me! Feel free to shoot me an ask if you have any questions!

Just. PLEASE. Leave the tropical milkweed alone. Stay away.

TLDR: Start a pollinator garden to help the monarchs! Just don't plant tropical milkweed. There's hundreds of other milkweeds to grow instead!

[clusterbuck]

someone on twitter is trying to claim that use of an em-dash is an indication of AI-generated writing because it’s “relatively rare” for actual humans to use it. skill issue

[exhuastedpigeon]

I can admit this is a little out of hand, but I promise AI didn't write my 150k fic 😂

[fuctacles]

Reblog if you're a human that uses em-dashes

[alexandraisyes]

I am extremely inconsistent with my dash useage in my writing I fear. Sometimes I have - one. Sometimes I have -- two. And sometimes I have --- three. I do not know the grammar rules about dashes I just put them where I think they go.

[dragoncxv360]

Actually I can answer the grammar aspect of this :D

So, this - is an n dash

This — (or --, two n dashes) is an m dash

N dashes can be used when hyphenating two (or more) words, for example, William-James. They can also be used for like a list of things. Oh! And they also can be used in dialogue when someone is stuttering. Almost forgot that one.

M dashes on the other hand are used in usually two instances that I can think of, abrupt stops in sentences, or in place of commas to add a tangent mid sentence.

So you might have a character talking or thinking and they get interupted or have a sudden realization, so you'd structure it like this:

“I'll come wi—” Solar started but Ruin cut him off with a scathing look.

And you can use it to tack on stuff to a sentence rather than creating a new one, like this:

He usually slept alone, preferring to not disturb his partners with his fitful sleep cycles—especially with how he’d woken up in fight mode more than once, accidentally punching Solar in the face before realizing where he was.

But yeah, that's a lesson in grammar lol, 'cause I love using m dashes and I actually really enjoy learning about grammer, even though you can pry comma splices out of my cold dead hands XD.

Also idk how to do m dashes on a computer but on my phone at least, I just press and hold the dash button and it pops up with three options: ‐ – and —

[corbae]

I am obsessed with em dashes, en dashes, and hyphens! The above is great information to start but I have a couple quick corrections and then more info below:

An en dash is not the same as a hyphen!

En dashes and hyphens are not used for lists; that's the place for an em dash (e.g., "I loved all those little lines—hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes—and only occasionally overused the em dash in writing.")

The - you can make with a dedicated button on your computer keyboard is a hyphen. Hyphens are used in some compound modifiers (e.g. well-known), some compound words (owner-operator), in compound numbers (sixty-nine), after some prefixes (ex-boyfriend), and sometimes just so words don't look weird (shell-like). They can also be used to S-P-E-L-L things out or to indicate a stutter. There's a lot of disagreement on when a hyphen is or isn't necessary; three dictionaries may spell a compound word three different ways.

An en dash – is actually a bit different! It's slightly longer than a hyphen and is used between ranges of numbers (7:30 AM–8 AM, 1999–2005). Because it generally requires multiple keys to render, people almost always just use a hyphen instead. On a Mac, make an en dash with option+hyphen.

An em dash — is the longest dash and can be stylistically used in place of a comma, semicolon, or colon. I really like Merriam-Webster's explanation of how to use em dashes; check it out if you want to know more! If you're using hyphens to approximate an em dash, use two (--) instead of just one to make your text more readable. On a Mac, make an em dash with option+shift+hyphen.

[haveyouseenthisanimal-irl]

Have you seen a Binturong/Bearcat (Arctictis binturong)?

I have seen one in person

I have seen one in captivity

I have seen a dead one/a taxidermy

I don't know if I've seen one in person

I've only seen photos, never seen in person

I've never heard of this animal

Voting ended onJan 18, 2025

[corbae]

WET FRITO FELINES god I love them so much

[goddamnshinyrock]

hiking trails on the west coast: Begin climbing on a soft earthen trail through beautiful douglas fir-western hemlock forest for 2.5 miles along a series of switchbacks, then break from the tree cover for 1 mile of straight even trail through a stunning wildflower meadow just below the ridgeline, after which the trail makes a sharp right and continues to the summit with a further 2 miles of switchbacks. Enjoy beautiful views of the nearest dormant stratovolcano and also at least two waterfalls and a crystal-clear alpine lake along the way. Round trip: 11 miles, 3,000ft elevation gain. Difficulty: moderate :)

hiking trails on the east coast: Go 1.5 miles up. Yes, straight up. Switchbacks? What are you, a baby? Are you a little child? Fuck you. Go up. [Seasonal note: first half of trail is a running stream during mud season and a multipitch ice climbing route during winter.] Round trip: 3 miles, 1,200ft elevation gain. Difficulty: jesus christ

[headspace-hotel]

I am starting to. Understand. why some people have such an apparently unhinged viewpoint of how many miles a hike is. I read folks talking about 8-12 mile hikes and I was legitimately like "How the hell do you even FIND people physically fit enough to do that with you? How do y'all have the time to train for that?"

But apparently y'all have been normal the whole time and some places have a version of hiking that is more like walking, and doesn't have any crawling on all fours or climbing over boulders or 45 degree inclines or partially broken ladders. Appalachia just wants to Harm You.

In my opinions, it's not the net elevation gain that gets you, it's the number of times the trail descends downwards and then goes up again to regain the elevation.

[victusinveritas]

[mxroo]

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4907318-asheville-north-carolina-hurricane-helene/

[adhdisgay]

Friendly reminder to listen VERY VERY CRITICALLY if someone tries to convince you not to register for federal disaster assistance following a declared disaster. Helene is still moving north and I see the usual rants picking up steam already.

That person trying to win social commentary points online is not your friend. That person can’t give you funds for house repair or to restock on food and meds. And if they say they can - that is a scammer and not someone you can trust.

Scammers and developers trying to take advantage after a disaster intentionally spread rumors/misinformation to convince survivors not to apply for federal disaster assistance. Many well meaning people pick this misinformation up and spread it further without understanding how the assistance process works. It’s happened more and more over the years and it will happen with Helene.

If you do not apply for assistance, you lose the chance to receive federal funds. APPLY APPLY APPLY. This doesn’t guarantee you will meet eligibility requirements, but you definitely can’t meet them if you don’t apply. The application process isn’t perfect but it continues to be updated - and was updated in 2024!! - to try and make it easier for survivors. If you have damages or lost power for an extended time, APPLY.

You can check on FEMA.gov or with local news to see when disaster recovery centers will open, how long the application period will last, and what information you’ll need when applying.

[beatrice-otter]

OP mentioned this but I want to highlight it: Biden changed some of the rules for FEMA eligibility to make it more accessible to middle-and-low-income people. They did a bunch of things to reduce red tape and make the assistance more flexible so you can use it for more things. The rule change took effect in March of 2024; this is the first major disaster under the new rules. So advice from people who have been through the FEMA wringer before might not be applicable.

The changes included things like streamlining the application process and also the appeals process.

The changes ALSO introduced help for immediate housing needs for people who have been displaced--that's a new thing! If you can't go home, there's a good chance FEMA can give you money to spend on housing in the short term!

The changes ALSO broaden the types of housing that FEMA will fund repairs to! It used to be that they would only fund repairs for stuff that had been fully functional before the disaster. So if you had a leaky roof before the storm, and the storm blew the roof off, they would only pay to replace the part of the roof that hadn't been leaky before the storm. Biden changed that; now they'll just replace the whole thing. And if you want to use part of the money to make your home more accessible than it used to be, that's allowed now, too.

Basically, there's a bunch of things that were changed to make FEMA better and more helpful to ordinary people, and those changes are all new enough that advice from previous disasters probably won't apply.

[leupagus]

Here's a link to apply! And yes, can confirm this change did get pushed through in March.

[orteil42]

did you know you can look up patents by application number. patent number 1 in the US is a 1836 traction wheel design for locomotives. US patent number 100000 is a sun hat for horses

[orteil42]

you gotta find the right words to search for the really good ones tho. for instance there's 5700+ patents containing "immortality"

[jessica-problems]

US20070035812A1 - Godly Powers

[corbae]

the first US patent was actually granted in 1790 for a type of fertilizer! almost 10,000 patents were awarded before 1836, but they were unnumbered; the patent office only started numbering them after a fire that destroyed their records.

Anniversary of the First Patent Issued in the United States

"Some of the greatest leaps humanity has made have been fueled by our greatest inventors, Americans who have changed the course of history w

old patents are amazing and the National Archives wants you to color them:

[noodles-07]

were you allowed to lock your bedroom door as a kid?

yes

no, for safety (ie. so people can get in if there's a fire)

no, for controlling reasons

no, for a secret third reason

my door didn't have locks

Voting ended onAug 13, 2024

[succubusboyfriend]

super curious about something because i didn't realize it wasn't a universal thing until my partner said something about it

do you put butter on your rice

yes, and i am from the US south

no, and i am from the US south

yes, and i am not from the US south

no, and i am not from the US south

i don't eat rice/i'm bald/any other nuanced answer

Voting ended onJun 6, 2024

reblog for sample size etc

[succubusboyfriend]

i thought this went without saying but seriously no food shaming on this post, including things like "what sort of crazy person does this". i know it's usually exaggerated outrage for comedic effect but y'all need to be more normal about people eating food differently from you

[corbae]

I am a Jason Todd Enjoyer but haven't read many of his books or followed his story in other media. This has been fine honestly! I am happy to read fic without a full knowledge of canon.

HOWEVER. Yesterday I was driving and was struck with a bolt of divine inspiration for a vid (i.e., a song I like played at just the right moment) and now I need to make this.

What sources do I need to check out if I'm making a vid about Jason's death and subsequent return as the Red Hood, with a special focus on his revenge arc and Bruce's anger re: killing?

[charlesoberonn]

The default length of pasta is designed to fit on a supermarket shelf, not to be the best length for cooking/eating.

Feel free to break it to any length you want (don't let the Italians know I said this)

[charlesoberonn]

Make sure I fit in the pot at least.

[lilyyy63]

Shorter pasta could definitely fit on a store shelf. Longer pasta however...

Free yourself of corporate interests and demand comically and inconviently long pasta

[charlesoberonn]

Pasta so long it can't fit in your car and you gotta tie it to the roof. Pasta so long you gotta cook it outside because your ceiling is too low.

[clumsysprings]

I think space filling pasta would be the best of all worlds. Easy to fit on shelves, long, and fits in the pot without breaking!

Good luck manufacturing it, but I think it could be done by extrusion and chopping, but I don't know if it'd be spaghetti still

[corbae]

have you seen the flatpack pasta

more: https://morphingmatter.org/projects/morphing-pasta-and-beyond

[fractally]

I honestly believe that this very online rhetoric that goes "the neurotypicals are this..." "can you believe neurotypicals do this..." "I just found out neurotypicals..." is harmful, especially to young people. Nearly all of it boils down to a belief that 99% of other people are essentially robots incapable of the kind of self-reflection or deep thought or true emotion that you, a neuroatypical are able to access.

This, for most, is just classic teenaged solipsism, an ever-popular ideology. But this medicalization of it is pretty fucked, not to put too fine a point on it.

It may or may not be true that your brain might work in ways that are less probable on some psychiatric bell curve. But please do not let that convince you that other people are less meaningful, less thoughtful, or less human.

[deelaundry]

Can you expound on this more? Because it is very helpful to me personally, to be able to talk about the people who dominate the society I live in who, as a set, have thinking patterns and ideals and behaviors that do not match mine, and that are harmful or degrading to me. "Neurotypicals" is the word I use in that conversation.

Like, race is not really a valid concept, but we need to talk about what white people have done/do (I am white). Gender is not a binary nor set in stone, but we need to talk about what men have done/do (I am not a man).

If we do not use the word "neurotypicals" to talk about the conflict and pain and confusion that comes from "the masses" telling me and other autistic people we are doing things wrong, that we are broken and deficient, what word should be used?

In case I have not made my tone clear, this is absolutely serious and non-sarcastic. Thank you.

[corbae]

@deelaundry OP isn't saying you shouldn't use the term neurotypical or talk about them as a group, but describing a genre of post which suggests neurotypicals don't have complex, individual selves in the same way neurodivergents do. I saw one that said in all seriousness that neurotypicals don't have internal monologues. Suggesting that men are inherently less creative/individual/etc than other genders would be just as fucked up.

[aibidil]

One of my favorite things is learning what words people used for this hand game—where you sit in a circle with your hands facing up, right hand on top of your neighbor's, left hand below your other neighbor's, and you sequentially go around slapping right hand into left— where they lived when they were kids. The regional variations are the best. It's in Wikipedia as "Stella Ella Ola," but for me (and many NE USAmericans) it's "Quack Diddly Oso."

The way these games are taught to younger kids by older kids and spread throughout regions is so fascinating; I want a visualization where you can see what happens when one random kid 50 years ago moved to a different state. I have no idea how widespread this game is, but I think it's all across the US and Canada, at a minimum. I haven't seen my kids play this—is it still a thing?

In my school in the 90s, it went like this—

Quack diddly oso, 
Quack, quack, quack, 
Señorita, 
Rita, rita, rita, 
Velour, velour, 
Velour, velour, velour, velour, 
1, 2, 3, 4!

I especially appreciate the versions that include “your mother smells like pizza,” “the toilet over fulled,” and “the cat peed on the floor,” “potatoes on the floor-a”

What about you? Anyone play it outside of North America?

[aibidil]

everyone who played “down by the banks,” I feel sorry for you that you had such a boring version