Untitled

[sxpxrmxrgxr]

[gothhabiba]

Samantha: do the people know about Ampersand Island?

me: ... no.....

[gothhabiba]

this is Ampersand Island. every time I come across a beautiful, interesting, or unusual ampersand in my archival travels I take a screenshot and place it neatly in this little pile on my desktop

[gothhabiba]

[motteteto]

wow these people are so weird

thank god im the only normal person here!!!

[scratch-meowt]

my hottest take

[keeper-of-the-flames]

Counter point, those machines can make me a peach sprite.

[pusheenthenerdcat]

guys did you know the tech in that nefangled machine revolutionized preemie healthcare

[maimonideznuts]

[pusheenthenerdcat]

yeah the guy who invented them made incredibly precise infusion pumps (as opposed to gravity fed ivs) which not only meant they could give medications to teeny tiny babies safely, it's also used for insulin pumps and portable dialysis machines. the key element is that it's a peristaltic pump so the liquid stays in sterile tubing for safety

(unholy drink cloaca uses it to dispense precise amounts of flavored sugar syrup)

[hedgebotherer]

Then how the haters loved him,

As they shouted out with glee,

"Unholy Drink Cloaca

You'll go down in history!"

[naamahdarling]

You DON'T get this on any other site in quite this format.

[mousegirlheart]

you're the only one who understands me mr strobbery

[acesentialvitamins]

i made one of those…. meme things

[crabussy]

when you eat a Normal Sandwich (bread meat greens cheese relish) and your body goes ooohhh fuck! oh fuck! what have you done! heartbeat GO! sweating GO! temperature GO! like sorry man I'm just trying to keep you WORKING!!!!!!!! ASS HOLE!

[crabussy]

it’s normal for sandwich to make you feel like you’re dying. this is a normal sandwich experience

[hexabeast]

[bethanydelleman]

One of the things that they didn't get into in the movie Project Hail Mary but was so emotionally poignant for me in the book is that it really was a last and only hope, and they partially destroyed Earth just to send the spaceship off.

The breeding of the astrophage to make fuel for the spaceship took so much energy that Eva Stratt paved over half of the Sahara desert, causing the weather to change in Africa and Europe. She blew up Antarctica to speed up global warming so they wouldn't die of cold before the probes could return. Stratt is playing supervillain with the Earth in the hopes that at least half of humanity would survive. After sending the three astronauts to certain death, her job is to keep humanity together for long enough to save the sun.

I think it adds a lot to her decision to send Grace away. Yes, it was cruel, but she knows what is coming for her and perhaps many of the people on the Hail Mary project. She is going to hold Earth and humanity together for decades, as people blame her for destruction and as nations in all likelihood go to war over scarce resources. Then, even if they succeed, she will probably be vilified or even executed for what she did.

Stratt is standing in the wreckage of Earth, knowing she'll live and die in infamy. She sent Grace off knowing that if he succeeded, he'd be remembered forever as a hero. She tore the Earth apart so he could save it.

Edit to add a quote:

"I'm curious," I* say to Stratt. "Once we launch Hail Mary. What will you do then?"

"Me?" she said. "Doesn't matter. Once the Hail Mary launches, my authority ends. I'll probably be put on trial by a bunch of pissed-off governments for abuse of power. Might spend the rest of my life in jail."...

"Are you at all concerned about that?"

She shrugged, "We all have to make sacrifices. If I have to be the world's whipping boy to secure our salvation, then that's my sacrifice to make."

"You have a strange logic to you," I said.

"Not really. When the alternative is death to your entire species, things are very easy. No moral dilemmas, no weighing what's best for whom. Just a single-minded focus on getting this project working."

*the novel is First Person POV of Ryland Grace

(and yes she says she won't be in charge anymore after the launch but I feel like they'll leave her in charge because no one else wants to so she'll actually be done after saving the sun. The movie supports this. And the fact that Earth saves the sun in the novel tells me our girl held everything together because I don't feel like anyone else could)

[agentrouka-blog]

One thing I really like about movie!Stratt is her leadership style. Which, I think, is pretty distinct from her book counterpart.

Because, basically, I'm not sure I find it realistic that a woman (or man) appointed to this role would last long if she was terribly abrasive or confrontational. It would be counterproductive and distracting for everyone involved. (It serves a purpose in the book, but I prefer how the movie did it.)

Movie!Stratt creates the appearance of being very consensus-oriented. She doesn't even acknowledge the concept of power games or sexism for that matter. Authority doesn't live in confrontation or visible status markers but in the visible support and deference of everyone around her, because she made sure they are all pulling in the same direction to begin with.

She's absolutely has a lot of power but she's keeping it understated. Nothing flashy. Business casual, always moving, flat shoes, calm voice, always questions, honest answers. She's consulting the room (while leading the conversation), she is to the point but reasonably polite, she works in tandem with others, creates a sense of shared experience. "Applause!" Carl knows exactly when to jump into the conversation while deferring to her authority, "Talk to her", "Just answer the question", "I would take the three". He clearly really knows her and can pick up his end of that game. The "We don't know" chorus. The "What's the alternative" centrifuge discussion. "Thank you so much" to the underling with the coffees. Seemingly flat hierarchies.

She lets people talk and then gleans what she needs. She gives credit.

Her job is to make the decisions and take responsibility, to keep the momentum going. People are unsurprisingly okay with handing it off. She points, they march.

No one considers opposing her because they all trust her. Because they feel involved in the process. It's not hard to ask, after all, when everyone knows what it's for.

Even in the end, she has the entire team on her side when confronting Grace with his choice. Because none of it is about power or ego. Only about the mission.

The lack of future international cooperation gets her most emotional utterance out of the entire film. "Which they won't."

At every point she is pulling for a team effort. And it works. (Except one time.)

I just thought that was really well done.

[crispysparkfinder]

A runaway trolley is quickly approaching planet Earth, threatening to kill over 8 billion people. There is a lever that can be pulled to redirect the trolley. On the other track is a singular man. You are the trolley operator. Do you pull the lever?

But suppose the problem is not that simple. First, pulling the lever will most certainly kill the man but it will not guarantee the survival of Earth. In fact, the chance Earth will be saved is slim, and many of those 8 billion will die in the process. You are the trolley operator. Do you pull the lever?

It still isn’t that simple. The man tied to the other track isn’t tied down at all, in fact he does not know he is part of the dilemma. You will have to tie him down yourself. You are the trolley operator. Do you pull the lever?

But wait, there’s something you are forgetting. The man you must tie down and murder is your second in command, your best friend, your platonic soulmate. You love him. You know he will refuse to be the sacrifice. You watch as he begs and pleads for another way, betrayal in his eyes. He writhes as you give the command to sedate him, and prepare to tie him to the tracks. He goes limp, and you do not cry. He will hate you for the rest of his short life, and you will deserve it. Even so, you know you are doing the right thing.

You are Eva Stratt. You will pull the lever.

[gummybearattacktheworldofdespair]

[drizzly-bear]

even more phm + textposts with stratt (and grace)

[dspud]

[viralfrog]

[santapau]

New Secret Knots comic, "The River". I hope you like it!

The Secret Knots comics are made possible by my patrons. Check out my pledge tiers if you'd like to be one of them.

[crowboy-bebop]

unauthorized fucking thing!!!!!!

(warning: loud chirping throughout)

source: hellgate osprey cam

[curlicuecal]

[aetherograph]

More context:

the first osprey is the father, the one that comes later is the mother.

ospreys are not eagles, they're ospreys

ospreys only eat fish, that's why they don't register this starling as possible food

the starling got home safely

the starling was not trying to eat the eggs, it was mostly curious and you can see it trying to hop under the osprey every time the osprey tries to sit down again--this is because the starling is still a baby and has the instinct to get under an adult for warmth, even though it mostly has its feathers. this scares the osprey because that is a Foreign Creature near its eggs.

at the end of the video you can see the ospreys starting to turn the eggs. birds do this so the yolk and/or embryo don't stick to the shell of the egg, which is bad for the egg's health.

ospreys have eyes adapted to seeing beneath the surface of the water!

[dailycatsblog]