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Yeah, and now I have to deal with people being like "oh we have a horrible flu, hacking coughs, but we can still meet with you!" (in a closed room in close quarters for an hour+) "we'll just wear masks!" Like, for real, could we at least have come out of this with the agreement to stay home if you're sick?

"remember quarantine when everyone was baking bread and dancing--" no, but I remember quarantine when a bunch of people were borderline suicidal. and I remember quarantine when people got screamed at for not wearing a mask outside. and I remember quarantine when businesses were forced to close and people lost their jobs. and I remember quarantine when there were government tip lines to report family dinners. and I remember quarantine when no one was allowed to go to church.

and I remember how it's a really good thing that my grandma wanted to be cremated, since that meant we could delay her funeral. because if we had to have it soon after she died (from cancer, not covid), three of her kids wouldn't have been allowed to be there. they wouldn't have had the chance to say goodbye.

so no, I don't remember any kind of human flourishing as a result of quarantine. and you're right that people should stop romanticizing it.

That's the quarantine I remember.

And I'm not going to forget it, either.

It's crazy how they are already trying to gaslight people into thinking we were all just living our best lives.

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TLT character heights

This has probably been done before, but I just have this collecting dust in my google docs. All of these quotes are from GTN with the chapter cited, not the page because I use an ebook. The quotes are in no particular order. TLDR at the end.

So firstly, I need to find an “average height” for the 9 Houses for a reason that will make sense later. The average height for a man in 2025 is 5’9 (175cm), but these books are 10,000 years in the future so would the average height be that different?

This chart is from a paper that I can’t find a free version of, so take this with a grain of salt. 10,000 years ago, in 8,000 BCE, women were around 159cm (5’3) and men were about 173cm (5’8). I haven’t found any data with consistent or significant numbers showing if humans have grown on average in the past 30 years, so I’d say that the 1996 data point is fairly up to date. These points show the average height of a woman in modernity is 164cm (5’5), while men are now 178cm (5’10). If we take these numbers at face value and say that the average height of humanity increases by about 2 inches (5cm) every 10,000 years, that will put our average height for women at about 5’7 (170cm) and men at about 6’0 (183cm). Now on to why this is relevant.

“the lovely twin took one of his ears between a thumb and forefinger and tweaked it unmercifully. He was not a short young man, but she had half a head on him, and a whole head if you counted her hair” chapter 9

I take "not short" to mean that Naberius is average height, so I'm placing him at 6’0 (183cm). Corona (and Ianthe, as they are the same height) are “half a head taller than him”. A head is 1/7th-1/8th of total body height and we’ll just use Babs’ head as a measuring stick which is likely 24cm (9in), making Corona and Ianthe ~5 inches taller than him, at about 6’5 (195cm). 

“He was about an inch shorter than her,” chapter 11-- about Naberius and Gideon (btw is it an “inch” in all versions or is this a localization?)

  So Gideon is 6’1 (185cm). 

“Coronabeth had crossed the floor to Palamedes, and though he was tall she towered a full half a head over him if you included the hair” chapter 21

As mentioned before, Coronabeth’s hair is half a head tall, so if you remove that, Palamedes matches Corona and Ianthe at 6’5 (195cm)

“as though Ianthe were not a head shorter” chapter 34, reffering to Colum

Colum is probably between 7’1 (215cm) and 7’3 (220cm). 

“Standing next to him holding a big wedge of broken sculpture and the flashlight was a tall, equally grey-wrapped figure with a scabbard outlined at her hip” chapter 12

Gideon describes Camilla as tall which is incredibly unspecific. The shortest height we see Gideon think of as tall before this is Pal and the twins, but I think it could just mean someone taller than her because Gideon is already quite tall. This is the only one on this list based partially in headcanon, but I think Pal is taller than Cam, so I’m putting her firmly at 6’3 (190cm).

I know this seems like a random selection of characters, but in my four readings of GTN, these are the only lines I caught onto as being something I could actually base height on. I haven't combed through HTN or NTN in the same way, so let me know if you guys have any lines that I missed.

TLDR:

Naberius: 6'0/183

Gideon: 6'1/185

Camilla: 6'3/190

Corona: 6'5/195

Ianthe: 6'5/195

Palamedes: 6'5/195

Colum: 7'2/217

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sex pal

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I was teaching kids today and they got fixated on the usual ‘are they dead now?’ question when I was talking about historical figures. So I was just like ‘Yes, they’re dead now, everyone who was alive in the 1800s is dead now.’ and then one kid was like ‘Except for you’.

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big fan of this cry for help my coworker drew in the storage room

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Stunning opal find from Mintabie, South Australia!

Photo: South Australian Opal Traders

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this is a typo in a textbook written by the professor of this class, it cost me $105, i will be sharing with the world

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Hot? Now??? In JUNE in CENTRAL VIRGINIA???

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long time no see, reverend daughter

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Bring Me The Boss Hog

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I feel like this is true, as long as the job interview also accounts for vibe.

I truly believe that most people would be happier if everyone treated dating as a series of interviews for marriage instead of literally any of the other ways people treat dating.

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I suspect that Harrowhark Nonagesimus touches her face 80% less than the average person just because she is so used to not smearing her face paint.

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Should I go look for Oyster mushrooms today