#Let Me Level With You

[academyoftheheartandmind]

Bloodroot and Other Poems

By Samantha Terrell Bloodroot Thoughts and feelings scrape Against each other – a barren Tree limb on a transparent Window pane. A roll of birch tree bark blows Around in the wind, showing Us time is short. Our own Raw skin will soon be exposed. When numbness sets in We ask ourselves Who taught us To gaze out windows anyway, and Why are humans inclined to peel husks? Or, when did you learn…

[sangrefae]

i love getting to see day one expac launch bugs such as "eating pizza breaks male au ra faces" and "syrcus tower now has savage level difficulty mechanics"

[cupcakeinat0r]

You've always known just how big Miguel is. No, not in that way; just big in general. There are short people, average people, tall people, and then there’s Miguel. Big and heavy. He’s reluctant when you ask him to be your “weighted blanket” because he always feels like he might seriously hurt you. Nonetheless, you always tell him how much you love the feeling. You love everything about his size and all the benefits it comes with. You wouldn’t change Miguel in the slightest. No way. . . But there’s this one thing.

 It’ll be super late into the night, and let’s say it’s Winter to make things worse. 

Well, you thought you started the night wrapped and bundled up in y’all’s down-feathered comforter, whipped out from the closet for frigid nights like these. You even wore your thermal pajamas, that’s how cold it was, so you definitely know you fell asleep extra cozy and toasty for the night. To go even further, Miguel always wraps an arm around you before drifting off, pulling the distinct aroma of your clothes and skin closer to his face. . . So why do still you feel cold? 

You remain asleep until your skin can no longer bear the invasive crisp of the air. Dejected, your eyes open, your gaze leading from the wall down to the bed around you.

You twist your head to see behind you, your eyes following along the bed until you find the culprit.

So that’s why I’m cold. Sucker took all of the blanket to his side. 

Your expression is a mix of reproach and borderline laughter. You hold it in so as to not wake him, of course. You did have to admit, despite it costing your comfort and warmth, the sight next to you was just too darn cute. You almost wanna take a picture of the precious crime scene. 

You reckon that, deep in his sleep, Miguel had turned over, and in doing so, brought all of the blanket with him. With tired eyes, you turn your whole body now to face him, his back facing you. You lay there, looking on with a soft smile. Your eyes scan all the shapes and edges; how the mountain of his figure rises and falls. You hold in a chuckle whenever he snores significantly louder. 

When you’ve had enough, you turn back around, and as quietly as possible, you get up to grab another blanket. The other move would’ve been to pull back your portion of the blanket, but there was the risk of waking him, so you settled for grabbing another one.

You come back, snuggled in your assigned spot on the mattress and allow sleep to take you for the second time that night. 

It’s not long before you feel shuffling in the bed. Your eyes crack open when you feel a different, more familiar warmth. You see that the throw blanket you grabbed from one of the lounge chairs is no longer on you, but on the floor. Instead, on your body is all of the comforter that had been stolen from you, in addition to the arm that initially took it. 

“Mmsorry, beba,” with eyes still closed, he mumbles through his half-awake state, ”I’ll buy us a bigger blanket”. 

Your lips curl in your slumber, the feeling of Miguel’s body cocooning yours conquering any blanket or comforter in the world.

<3

[yrsonpurpose]

we won't know. but there will be signs. bonus ±

[somereaderinblue]

My internal cheer when I saw Telemachus decked out in Athena's cape & helmet was so loud I'm surprised my internal organs are still intact.

And then I had this mental image of Athena rushing out of Apollo's infirmary & arriving at the palace in time to see Ody (the monster rawr rawr rawr) killing the suitors. So she swoops to Telemachus just as he returns, magics him into her armor & cape, hands him a spear, chop-chop, I dub thee Little Wolf & Warrior of the Mind now go do some father-son bonding via murder.

[twinstxrs]

idk if this is accurate but i’ve felt like in previous seasons riz & gorgug have been one of the inter-bad kids dynamics we’ve seen the least of & this season has been so great in that aspect. gorgug having helped make some of riz’s magic gear. riz helping gorgug with his studies. the shared birthday party. gorgug’s gift to riz being something he himself made to protect riz. riz’s gift to gorgug being something he illegally grabbed to protect gorgug. gorgug who utilizes rage to put his body on the line for his friends & riz who will take deep levels of mental stress for his friends. even though it was within the context of a joke, riz calling gorgug an “absolute sweetie.” like yea they might not be in a band together or both part of a presidential campaign team or owlbears teammates, but they’d go to war for each other, because they’re best friends.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

hope you feel better soon!

I am riddled with ailments, but I stay silly!

[the-moogs]

marlene loves when her gay aunts babysit her 🎀

[fjordfolk]

this is absolutely not professional advice but there's something about trust and handling and cooperative care that just boils down to whether your dog knows you have their best interest in mind. it's not just trusting your bond or them being calm or whatever, it's about experience. the time your dog gets a bone or a stick or a pez dispenser stuck between their teeth ideally shouldn't be the first time you poke your fingers in their mouth and they shouldn't be running away from you thinking you're trying to take it from them. there's something about your dog knowing not to freak out because parts of this experience is not new to them, and it's going to be fine.

[unpersoniverse]

Skén:nen sá:sewh

as promised, here's Precious boy™ getting kissed by Precious wife™ because he deserves all the love in the world :cc

translation: Get home safe

[rocksama24]

For someone so sweet, I wish you a happy dream

[cleavergrants]

can't take him seriously he's just such a curious cat to me

[tapakah0]

[applecranberryjuice]

They could have solved this sooner if any of them bothered to look at a calendar

Hear me out

Ninjago doesn't have the best track record with dates (Wu's lifetime...) and I don't expect DR to be any better at it. But rewatching the season I realized the fact that when Lloyd narrates, he mentions being "alone for weeks" and, in the carnival, recalls not being around many people in a while, nailing down how he was secluded to the monastery during those weeks he woke up alone. This is fine, typical Lloyd behavior, just that when Nya encounters Cole, he says years. Lloyd has no reason to lie, he doesn't have to make it seem like he was less time around so if he is not lying, and he truly was weeks alone, while Cole spends years lost after the merge? What happened?

And Nya and Kai! Kai woke up early enough, and in the bounty! to be able to map and travel a big part of the new land and try to find his way back, we don't know his side, but considering he pretty much arrived and then left again, had he entered the monastery before? I do believe he was longer out, awake and traveling. Nya also mentions having traveled before encountering the cranglings-- and she was on foot, she's resilient and strong, but for how long can you travel unknown terrain without a vehicle and survive it.

The idea of time getting messed up is plausible, other than reality coming undone and messing up every physics law-Cole is hanging out with what seems to be a kid formling, whose realm is confirmed to move differently time-wise, how could two different time progressions reacted to each other? How did that affect dates? Growing rates? So interesting.

I want to know if dr is planning on going somewhere with this, if not, then it'll be one more concept I'll rotate in my brain like a skewer, its such an interesting concept to me

Its also free trauma for the ninja! Win-Win

[bestanimal]

Round 3 - Chondrichthyes - Myliobatiformes

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Our first order of rays are the Myliobatiformes, or “Stingrays.” This order includes the families Zanobatidae (“panrays”), Hexatrygonidae (“Sixgill Stingray”), Dasyatidae (“whiptail stingrays”), Potamotrygonidae (“river stingrays”), Urotrygonidae (“American round rays”), Gymnuridae (“butterfly rays”), Plesiobatidae (“Deepwater Stingray”), Urolophidae (“round rays”), Aetobatidae (“pelagic eagle rays”), Myliobatidae (“eagle rays”), Rhinopteridae (“cownose rays”), and Mobulidae (“devil rays”).

Myliobatiformes are characterized by their enlarged, expanded pectoral fins being completely fused to their head and body, called a “disc”. Their disc shape ranges from diamond to subrhombic to lozenge-shaped. They are also characterized by the presence or absence of a single small dorsal fin, a long whip-like tail, and one or more stinging spines on the upper tail base (some species have secondarily lost this spine). As a defense mechanism, stingrays will flail their pointed or barbed tails and lodge the spine within a potential predator while they escape. The spine eventually grows back. As rays, their eyes and spiracles are on the dorsal side of their body while their gill slits, nostrils, and mouth are on the ventral side. Most myliobatiformes have blunt, pavement-like teeth for crushing hard-shelled prey and bony fish, though Manta Rays are planktonivore filter-feeders. They give birth to live young, usually 1-10 per litter, depending on species. This is a highly diverse group, and the second largest order of batoids (rays).

Myliobatiformes arose in the Early Cretaceous.

Propaganda under the cut:

Most stingrays are not aggressive if left alone, and some are even curious and friendly. The Cownose Rays (Rhinoptera) especially are known for this behavior, and are often the species of choice for touch tanks in public aquariums, as they will actively seek out attention. In my family’s experience, my sisters and mother were swimming in the ocean two Summers ago, and my sister patted what she thought was my mom’s foot after it bumped her on the back. She then realized it was a Cownose Ray (Rhinoptera bonasus) when another one tripped my other sister! A school of them was playing in the shallows and had decided to mess with my family. (I only ever get pinched by crabs and spooked by jellies when I enter the ocean ;_;)

Uniquely for its family, the Porcupine Ray (Urogymnus asperrimus) lacks a venomous tail spine. Instead, it defends itself with the many large, sharp thorns found over its disc and tail. Due to its thorny hide, this now endangered ray has historically been a very valuable source of shagreen.

The Giant Oceanic Manta Ray (Mobula birostris) is the largest stingray, growing up to 9 m (30 ft) long, 7 m (23 ft) wide, and weighing about 3,000 kg (6,600 lb), though the average size commonly observed is half that.

Around 35 cm (14 in) in width, the Bluespotted Ribbontail Ray (Taeniura lymma) is one of the most venomous species of stingray and is known to have an excruciating sting. Nevertheless, it is popular with home aquarists for its small size and beautiful coloration. Despite this, it is not well suited for captivity, being a very shy species and prone to refusing to feed. Seldom have hobbyists been able to keep one alive for long in home aquariums. Professional, public aquariums have had much better luck with the species, even maintaining breeding programs.

The composition of venom in freshwater stingrays appears to differ from that of marine stingrays.

Stingrays that live in the deep sea, such as the Deepwater Stingray (Plesiobatis daviesi) and the Sixgill Stingray (Hexatrygon bickelli) are flabby and almost goopy, with a skate-like appearance. The deep sea changes folks.

When threatened, the Crossback Stingaree (Urolophus cruciatus) raises its tail over its disc like a scorpion, as a warning.

Spotted Eagle Rays (Aetobatus narinari) sport 2-6 venomous, barbed spines at a time, but the most danger they have presented to humans so far is via their leaping from the water at the wrong place/wrong time! On at least two occasions Spotted Eagle Rays have been reported as having jumped into boats, and in one incident this sadly resulted in the death of a woman in the Florida Keys. Otherwise, these rays appear to be curious about humans and will sometimes slow down to inspect snorkelers if the human is not acting threatening.

The Chilean Devil Ray (Mobula tarapacana) is one of the deepest-diving ocean animals, traveling from the surface to feed at depths of up to 1,896 metres (6,220 ft). A veined structure of blood vessels warms the ray's brain at colder depths. These rays stay near warmer surface water for at least an hour both before and after deep diving, suggesting that they are soaking up heat to prepare for and recover from their descent into colder water.

Manta Rays (genus Mobula) are incredibly smart. They were the first “fish” in the world to pass the “mirror test” (ie show self-awareness by recognizing themselves in a mirror rather than seeing the reflected image as another manta ray). They also have highly-developed long-term memory, form friendships, and play with each other by blowing bubbles and breaching out of the water.

Steve Irwin’s death was a freak accident. He was swimming and passed overtop a 2 m (6.7 ft) long Short-tail Stingray (Bathytoshia brevicaudata), and the animal reacted reflexively to his shadow by stabbing its barbed tail repeatedly into what it perceived as a predator. By an insane stroke of bad luck, the spine from the stingray’s tail pierced right through into Steve’s chest. (And no, the barb did not become lodged and he didn’t pull it out; that’s a rumor. Venom or no, there’s not much you can do about being stabbed in the heart.) Fatal stings are very rare, and only around 20 stingray-related deaths have been recorded in history. Steve loved all animals and would not have wanted people to hold his death against literally all species of stingray, let alone the single one that accidentally took his life. Even as a joke, using Steve Irwin to hate on an animal does a great disservice to his legacy. So if I hear a word of stingray-hate in Steve’s name, I’m calling the guards. >:C

[backpackingspace]

Sometimes I revisit the tgcf source material and have to realize all over again that hua cheng is the sane ghost king. And it's not that he's a better person then the others, or like not insane. He just watched the other ghost kings and took notes on what not to do.