#WE JUST DONT UNDERSTAND HOW IT EVER BECAME SO POPULAR

[thebibliosphere]

Hi! How are you doing? Sorry to bother you, but i dont know many scottish people and idk who to talk to about this book I found on audible. It's called Imogène, by french author Charles Exbrayat. Do you know him /the book? I've started reading it but I had to pause because, while being sold as a "humorous spy story" I find the protagonist, a "very proudly scottish" woman, to be... an offensive caricature? Like she acts like a fool, honestly. This book contains some interesting points about sexism (it was published in 1959), and ridiculous british habits (such as employees forced to give money for princess anna's birthday or being socially scorned). I'm sure the shared dislike / distrust the protagonist and her british colleagues feel are (were?) realistic. But she is so extra, and the story keeps telling how lonely she is, even after working 20 years in london. She has No friends, most acquitances dont talk to her for various motivations, her bosses hates her ... idk I feel this book is actually mocking scottish people? Or scottish women??? I was SO there for a "strong woman protagonist who gives cutting remarks to her boss or peers", but this looks wrong. Idk. I didnt know whom ask for inputs. Maybe i'm reading too much into it. Feel free to ignore this mega rant. Have a good day!

I think cultural and historical context and time of publication-- which was almost 70 years ago --are important factors to take into consideration when we look at fiction through our current expectations.

I can’t speak to the book as I’ve never read it, but speaking as a Scots woman who worked for an English publishing house for a while, being made to feel alienated by my boss and others due to being Scottish was unfortunately still something going on in 2011.

I’d get lots of “Oh but you sound so eloquent” remarks regarding my thinned-out accent (something I did on purpose to avoid being told to “speak properly” which was also something I heard a lot in school if I ever used my native Scots language instead of “Queen’s English.”) and one time my boss referred to me as “their civilized Scot” to an American author, whose Scottish romance book I was supposed to be fixing the dialogue on.

The phrasing was along the lines of, “Don’t worry, you’ll be able to understand her. Joy is our civilized Scot.”

The author laughed and made another derogatory comment about how they just loved Scottish accents even if it was unintelligible a lot of the time. I kept my mouth shut because I didn't want to lose my first career job.

I kept my mouth shut a lot in that job.

In that regard I could very well empathize with the character being lonely and not engaging with anyone, even after 20 years.

The proud Scottish woman can be a bit of a caricature, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is intended as mocking.

Again, cultural/historical context matters.

I wasn’t alive in 1959, but I know there was a lot of Scottish media about the time that leaned into the stubbornness and pride of Scots women both for humor and to make societal commentary on the fact that women were strong and more independent than they’d ever been following two world two and a lot of men weren’t happy about it and wanted them to go back into their boxes. As a result the mouthy, proud Scots woman became a mockable caricature that turned women into shrill, over proud scolds.

Get back in your box or we’ll make fun of you, basically.

So is this book being mocking, or is it employing popular tropes of the time, knowing that audience will understand what it means and that the female protagonist is being subversive despite what others expect from her?

I can’t say. Again, haven’t read it. It could be utter dogshit and making total fun of my culture. But I do think when looking at older media we need to put our thinking caps on and think, “How would the audience of the time, 1959, have viewed and engaged with this?”

Expecting a “strong female protagonist” as we know it from media today isn’t going to work with media that’s almost 70 years old.

Hell, the “strong woman protagonist” wasn’t even something any piece of media could agree on when I was growing up in the 90s.

Times change. Literary tropes and preferences change. It helps to keep that in mind.

[gazemaizeisdead]

I do love your 13 pitches for rata-two-ouille but some of the references flew over my head may i humbly ask for you to explain them. again even though i dont get it they are really fucking funny

sorry i didn't respond the first time; brad sometimes likes to message me from sockpuppet accounts to "keep me on my toes" whenever he's mad at me. the other day we had a real big setback during filming (kicked out of a dog park) so morale's pretty low at the studio.

my inspirations for my various ratatouille project concepts are, as you'd expect, quite eclectic. i am a skeptic on the project of tracing artistic influence (how can one really know from where they sourced their ideas) but it's always an interesting discussion.

all the emile movies are my take on lynch (i don't like the idea of simplifying my work to the point of someone being able to say "oh this is gazemaize x eraserhead" but let's be real, that's what i'm doing.)

as for the other less obvious stuff,

Film based on the in-universe Gusteau documentary that inspired Remy to be a chef. A young Gusteau (digitally-recreated Anthony Bourdain) works his way through the unforgiving 1960s hellscape of French cuisine to fight for his third and final Michelin star. At first this seems like a small plot hole because in Ratatouille restaurants are able to get up to five stars but at the end of the movie Gusteau’s food is so good that the Michelin company has to change their system to add extra. First M-rated Pixar film, ties the record for second most F-bombs in any movie ever

this is primarily a response to kafka's hunger artist, and more broadly, to masahiro's sakurai entire career. i don't think it's worth reading the novelization of kirby air rider just to understand my work but it is worth reading for its own sake (if you have the stomach for it, it's not for everybody.)

Romcom Toy Story crossover in the style of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" where Remy falls in love with a stuffed toy rat. Django and the toy's adoptive parents (a Pet Rock and a 2nd generation Tamagotchi, who had faced parallel discrimination themselves in their youth but don't see it as equivalent to what their son is doing) eventually do give up their bigoted ways but the relationship falls apart anyway during the same night due to Remy's obsession with his career. Heavily marketed as featuring Pixar's last LGBT character

when i was younger i had a classmate who was very interested in tamagatchi and i sat behind him in school after a desk reshuffling and he had not one not two but seven of these shiny, candy-colored beeping flat egg devices hanging from his backpack and i was perpetually filled with the irrational desire to reach in front of me, rip them off their little metal ball chains and put them in my mouth. i could not focus in class because i wanted to eat them that much but i also liked the boy in front of me, who had been very kind with me (he had gone out of his way to show me how to properly hold a pencil, where my teacher just criticized my bad handwriting without giving me any constructive advice on how to fix it other than "go slower") and i knew he'd be very hurt if i did. sadly after three months one day i could not resist and i did grab and swallow two before i was stopped (Tamagotchi Connection Version 3: Surf Wave and Keitai Kaitsuu Tamagotchi Plus: Strawberry Yogurt, strawberry yogurt my ass) and though i was okay after an endoscopy and both machines were still functional sadly one tamagotchi died of starvation and another evolved into the wrong kind of adult tamagotchi and my classmate never spoke to me again. he was very popular and i became hated after this incident, it made the rest of my senior year a living hell

Remy is dead and a ghost in this movie, it’s revealed that the Gusteau he kept talking to in the first movie was NOT a figment of his imagination, that was the real Gusteau; cooks of significant skill are able to continually defer their true deaths by making tasty enough food for the grim reaper (for reasons that are only alluded to, this form of necromancy only works for the french, in a comforting throwback to the nationally-segregated afterlife system implied by Coco).

this one is my favorite and the project i would have liked to finish the most, as it's very personal, for i was actually haunted by the ghost of a french chef for three nonconsecutive years. (try sucking off your tax accountant while an offensive stereotype is lecturing you on Escoffier! it provokes artistic output, to say the least)

Three disconnected episodic interludes about Remy (Dan Castellaneta), Linguini (Phil LaMarr), Colette (Tara Strong) and the entire rat-clan learning the true meaning of Christmas. Olaf cameos in the second short as a monster chasing Remy during a hallucinogenic nightmare he has after staying up for a week straight trying to create the perfect fruitcake (only later does he realize that the only truly perfect fruitcake is the one you share with family). Disney+ exclusive

dan castellaneta voiced the genie in aladdin 2 but disney managed to get robin williams back for aladdin 3 and you have to wonder, from dan's perspective, if he felt a little used, like a rebound who gets discarded the moment the original couple makes up.

here's my most spicy take: dan castellaneta does a better genie than robin williams. williams was a once in a generation talent but friend like me doesn't have shit on "nothing in the world" (or so i'm told, i've never seen the first aladdin movie).

Remy and Linguini reunite to battle the Underminer and his robot army and stop them from destroying the surface world and polluting the atmosphere to turn the whole planet into an artificial underground. At the end they leave the underground for the first time in the movie during the final battle and the Underminer turns good because he sees Paris and realizes that he doesn’t need to terraform the surface world because the hellish aboveground wasteland he wants already exists. 62 on metacritic

the incredibles 2 you saw in theaters is actually the incredibles 2 2 because the real first incredibles 2 was a playstation 2 game released in 2005. its wikipedia page has my favorite sentence in all of non-fiction (very bottom of screenshot)

Following the release of Incredibles 2 (2018), the events of this video game became non-canon.

i love the way this is phrased and appended to the top of the page but spaced from the rest like a magnificently important event. it makes non-canonization sound so literal, as if disney sent men in suits to sneak into basements and goodwill centers all over the country and find these dusty game cases and put a little stamp on the disc that says "this never fucking happened".

i hope that helps, send me more questions anytime, i love talking shop about "the process". brad and i are still working hard (or hardly working! haha)

[tnoy-keraxis]

What would each CC characters podcasts be about

THE QUESTION EVER!!!!!! I have developed this au so far and I love talking about it. I am going to put a cut after the background info because im going to be so annoying

So, for background, they all work for a little podcast network known in my heart as 'Bogs Hollow FM' (BHFM) <3. It was founded by Ragweed and The Narrator (David)* after their podcast was so successful that they could afford to not only expand their podcast but acquire others and fund some new ones!

*Note: I know that this mixes the two layers of fiction that we are given in CC. I know that the Narrator and Ragweed don't actually know the main characters. I know the characters are played by The Players. I know the story in CC is mostly fiction. This is just me having fun <3 Im just saying this because I would argue with myself over this.

but anyway!!! talk about the podcasts below the cut because this shit is LONG (i know you didnt ask for all the lore but i like talking)

Starting with the one that started it all, Ragweed and David have a weekly podcast called The Woodblock (this is one of the few names I'm sure of). It is just general news/guys talking. It got popular fast and good on them. It's become a huge production and most of the audience just shitposts about how they seemingly get divorced every episode. Ragweed's real name isn't Ragweed, but he refuses to tell anyone what his real name is.

Then, when The Woodblock became so successful, and they started BHFM, they acquired 3 other podcasts that were already successful in their own right and gave them increased funding.

First, The Prince (Nicholas) has a podcast which is essentially a painful rehash of alpha-male podcasts. But it did not find it's intended audience... Now it's essentially got the worlds queerest audience that just makes fun of him, but he does not notice. People assume it's a parody. It was originally just him, until he bullied Tadius into being his cohost but that's a story for another day

Then, Ella has an audience helpline podcast where she just answers questions and does general self-help/wellbeing content. We love a girl working through her trauma and helping others at the same time. She doesn't have a cohost but occasionally invites Lucy and Justine on, but they don't take things seriously enough. It is her sanctuary, and she wants to keep it as just hers. The last podcast they acquired was The Stepmother's podcast which is just an aggressive drama podcast, tragically the only way I can explain the energy is Frenemies meets Drama Alert, and I hope that gives you an idea of how horrific the energy is. Putrice and Rancilda are frequently their as well.

But when they acquired those 3, they also got handed some spin-off podcasts (which i dont have much to say about):

Rancilda has a daily riddles podcast that she is "hiding" from her stepmother (she isn't, its call "ranciriddles"). She has an audience suggested riddle every week.

Putrice has a more lowkey gossip podcast because she wants to be just like her mother but its way less toxic and tbh it's a good time.

Lucy and Justine have like a fun little sleepover style podcast, they just play games and talk and have a good time. They once did a whole episode reading fanfic about The Prince and Tadius just to fuck with them.

Crumb and Sir Hop-a-Lot (real names Chris and Harold <3) have a motivational/workout podcast, they are just the world's most chaotic duo, no one really understands what their podcast is trying to be.

The Fairy Queen has a daily affirmations podcast that she films at 3am. No one knows her real name. No one knows who she is.

and then lastly, they have a group dnd podcast run by David with the exact plot to Cinderella's Castle. It's a mess.

and that's a basic rundown of all the podcasts. There has been a lot of drama between them all including the aforementioned fanfic beef, the several times Tadius has been locked in a storage cupboard and why the Fairy Queen records at 3am but that's a post for another day.

[md-confessions]

not sure if this goes against the no nsfw rule but i will try my best to keep out any explicit talk of the actual thing im talking about. I do not like the panic au. I actually hate it. a lot. i did not want to hate it but everything about it and the way people treat it makes me so immensely uncomfortable that I physically revolt when I see it. It actually causes me immense amount of distress and i hate it. I just wanna make it clear, i dont usually voice this opinion publicly at all. this is the only time i have and ever will. I dont go out of my way to harass ppl who like panic au or complain to ppl i know who end up liking it and sharing things about it, i'm not an ass. If you like the au as an adult, i dont hate you for that, i wont dictate what u can and cant like when the source material isnt inherently immoral. I've known about this au since it was first made. I was there when the first drawings of the au were posted before it even officially became an au. at this point, i had already became uncomfortable of the concept due to the nature of those drawings but i do understand that those arent canon anymore so its whatever. I HAVE read the comic one time when I was desperate to understand it and stop having such harsh reactions whenever i see the au in the wild but my opinion remained unchanged after finishing it. My main problem with the au isnt actually the very complex, strange, and sometimes gross nature of the au and nyx as a character, even though that is a pretty big reason for me disliking it, my main problem is how people treat the au. the comic itself is EXPLICITLY STATED as nsfw and while I'm fine with nsfw works, i hate the way the fandom popularized the au and casually shares it around like they would with any other fan work. You have no idea how many children I've seen make videos or show their enjoyment of this au and it actually scares me a lot. I get that kids stick their noses into things theyre not supposed to but can we please at least make it clear what panic au is and put the bare minimum effort into making sure kids know they arent supposed to be even looking at this stuff? No hate to the og artist who made the au, they have good art, but the stuff they make isnt for me. I just wish it wasnt spread around so much and so casually.

⠀

[lunadreamscaper]

im gonna rant aboit something that annoys me sometimes when interacting with the venturiantale fandom. old and new 😭 no hate just an observation that i have made a... surprisingly amount of times?

if you find long rants about venturiantale then keep scrolling this is mostly for me to help process my thoughts so if youre gonna be mean keep it to yourself 🫵

its the people who will show up out of no where who insists that Johnny Ghost is (or should be) incapable of making friends and liking people outside of Johnny Toast. 😭

like yes its hard for Ghost to get along with people in source...? but... idk why people insists this, like he isnt allowed to grow or change? like do you know how good of a fanfic plot itd be if Ghost learns to like accept and like other people? either way if he doesnt, he's gonna be a boring character if he's incapable of like... any change lmfao?

my main example comes from times ive talked about like, maybe a cool concept where Ghost becomes the Doctor's companion (doctor who) or like takes Hunter from the owl house under his wing and makes him a trainee (i love crossovers as you can probably tell) and 9 times out of 10, every time ive publically talked aboit those ideas theres always this dang GUY who rushes in out of no where all high and mighty and goes "actually they would hate each other lol :)"

EVERY GOTDANG TIME!! LEAVE ME ALLOOOONE LFMAO 😭😭😭😭😭😭 LET ME HAVE THIS

Like yes its very likely for Ghost to not get along with some characters. but also, this is MY idea, and i wanna talk about how what would happen if it went WELL. instead of your boring version full of hate/j/j/lh

plus ik everyone has their own interpretations of those characters and thats fine. i just hate it when people specifically go "actually ur fun cool idea that you like i dont think would work at all" just kinda... sucks? also ruins a conversation imo???

it also reminds how people reacted when i started shipping Ghost x Josh back in the day. saying it couldnt work bc they started out not liking each other, even tho over time the two ended up being cordial towards each other. not best of friends but they didnt mind each others company?? the whole shit about the ship isnt my focus my focus is thay so many people think that characters (VenturianTale Johnny Ghost in this case) like cant fucking change or grow. 😭 also the ship dynamic is nothing like it but people actin like enemies to lovers isnt a super popular concept. sorry off topic there.

Though in the end i shouldnt be surprised, bc of how Jordan fuck ass Frye depicted Johnny Ghost and all his characters in general. Jordan Frye himself, didnt ever change as a person. (if he did he just became a worse person lol) so why would his characters?

REGARDLESS of Jorkin Frye, that doesnt mean we should let his inability to understand what character development is you and other people and how they write and depict the character.

also ig in the end you dont hafta like or agree with peoples ideas or headcanons. just dont be annoying lol/lh

tbf when people present a headcanon that clashes with your own, it can be hard to keep your opinion or own headcanon to yourself. i think the current state of this fandom struggles to co-exist with headcanon differences which us fair but also sometimes you just gotta let people talk their shit withoit like putting them down or else the convo ends short or it sucks 😭 i struggle to find balance too dw and im guilty of this.

[vyeoh]

i dont understand watchers lmao

like i kind of get the gist

but i did not watch evo

and do not have time to (sadly)

so...help???

Luckily for you, the watchers at this point are pretty removed from the Evo ones! There are some pretentious purists out there, as with anything, that like to bitch about people not following the original script (god knows I'm guilty of this with other stuff lol) and I've noticed bitching about this specifically becoming more popular, but I'm assuming you're coming to me about the lifer series watchers and not Evo watchers. That being said, here's Vio's Watcher guide of questionable accuracy:

The Life Series watchers are only really "canon" in Martyn's lore, with them being referenced but not explicitly canonized in the Secret Life state (the symbol on the mask is their symbol from Evo but no one else really has lore, period, so I hesitate to count this as more than an easter egg for anyone else but Martyn). From what I can tell, the Watchers retained a few things from their Evo lore:

1) The ability to move players to new worlds- In Evo, the Watchers were the ones who moved people to more updated versions of the game (the series concept was playing survival but gradually updating the game version as they went). This ability lends to the life series Watchers being the "gamemakers" and being able to put players in a new game ever season

2) Grian - at the end of his Evo series (tho notably not the Evo series in general), he was taken after jumping into the end portal by the Watchers. Based on the end credit poem being replaced with a dialouge between two of them, and a third one joining in at the end, the assumption is that Grian became a Watcher. As Grian is also the server owner for the Life Series, him being a Watcher plays well into the Watchers being the game runners. I'm not sure how canon this is in Martyn's lore or if it's still an unknown, but it is a prevailing theory that Grian's involvement isn't part of the other Watcher's plans and is to try and fuck up their shit on the inside and essentially do damage control for his friends. This is based off of the quote "He was never meant to interfere, he was onlt ever meant to watch" from Martyn's videos. However, c!Martyn, who is the perspective we see, is not omniscient and therefore there's a lot we just don't know.

3) Listeners/ why the Watchers seem to hate Martyn and also Jimmy: from what I understand from the little Evo lore I remember (this was years ago lmao), the Listeners appeared later as an antagonistic force to the Watchers, and got Martyn and Jimmy on their side. They were presented as a route to freedom vs the Watchers, but once again unreliable narration needs to be kept in mind. This is likely why the Watxhers keep fucking w Martyn specifically (and might provide an in canon reason for why Jimmy keeping dying first as well lmao) but it hasn't really be touched on beyond 1) Martyn is canonically a Listener and 2) the Watchers know he's a Listener

4) So.... what are the Watchers? - this one is, canonically, unknown and therefore the source of the aforementioned pretentious bitching. You need to keep in mind that mcyt roleplay is not structured and Evo especially didn't start out expecting deep worldbuilng. This, plus the fact that the Watchers are higher powers that different people have different opinions on, means there's going to be a lot of info that just doesn't line up, from both a meta and in canon perspective.

One theory is that they're a representation of viewers. This is at least somewhat true, imo, based on how Grian "becomes a viewer" after ending his series. This is not canon, but personally I do like this theory lol. This also carries into Secret Life, where viewers can submit tasks via the statue. However, I don't think this is canonized ever and might just be more symbolic than literal. There's also a theory that Watchers vs Listeners are a dichotomy between the bad viewers who just "watch" and demand things without "listening" to the players, while Listeners are viewers what actually "listen" to what the players want to do. However, as with everything, this is speculation based off of a 3rd person limited perspective.

5) Are they evil?- once again, depends on who you ask and what version you're talking about. According to c!Martyn in both series, yes. According to c!Grian from Martyn's lore, probably? Or at least he doesn't like this particular plan of theirs. According to Evo fans who remember them as just "plot bunny for why the version of the world keeps changing", probably not. We really don't know a ton about them and so you are free to make them as evil as you want or as neutral as you want.

This is preally much all ik about the Watchers and how they relate to the Life Series. You will notice that most of it is theories or hinted at things. The beauty of mcrp as a genre is that it's very semi-formal, and so canon is a bit wiggley. So TLDR: do whatever the fuck you want lmao. You don't need mine or anyone else's approval. It's your right to do what you want with canon, just as it's your right to bitch about it on the internet. Just don't be a dick about it and everything will be fine 👍

[narwhalandchill]

(certain genshin ships w ajax brief negativity lmao like this is gonna b real controversial im sorry. not an attack at anyone just my opinion here be gentle)

obviously disclaimer that if u like the pairings in question im not like canceling or attacking you personally or saying ur wrong for liking it or for not considering the more uhh iffy angle im abt to bring up in terms of how i personally always felt abt these ships, i have mutuals who rb stuff for these sometimes and its just a tag i have blocked its life it happens, im more so just overall commenting on the existence of the pairings to begin w, its not worth the drama its my opinionnn please keep that in mind but yeah

anyway ugh now w like capitano model preload stuff and some of the model comparisons being made (hes slightly bigger than the usual tall male apparently n childes model was used for the comparison) and the shippy comments being made abt it im gonna be honest chief. i do not. like. a single ajax x harbinger pairing like im sorry just how exactly is the age gap (and seniority. and experience. and power imbalance) not processing with ppl when it comes to these at all ??? 😭😭 hes the youngest appointed harbinger canonically and w perueres story we now know that was like. Literally 16 at most for him. and even if that wasnt the case and before it was confirmed. hes still been around the harbingers since he was a teenager bc of being pulcinellas protege idc if its like this convoluted argument of well he wouldnt really interact w them on an interpersonal relationship level before hes a bit older its just still so weird to me i just dont understand how any of these pairings became a thing 💀 like you think not being around him that frequently would stop the usual shipping suspects ppl favor with childe from seeing him as a literal kid either way???

arles literally the one exception here since theyre actually around the same age but those 2 have the ship chemistry of two noble gases JSKSKSLDOSOSKFL (= literally no reaction) . arle is a whole dyke that much is obvious.

like obviously its not like much can be done since pairings like scara are way too popular to be somehow halted on their tracks and the cap stuff will prolly have a resurgence as well now that hes getting a more tangible characterization in natlan but ughhhh. it also sucks bc i think ajax 100% has a crush on cap and its such a peak concept (the guy Absolutely played a part in childes bisexual awakening) but the idea of it being reciprocated on any level whatsoever just feels nasty to me im sorry 😭 my cap would Never its literally on the level of pairing him w skirk to me

also scara always felt strange to me solely based on the fact that he genuinely dislikes ajax lmao like. it feels ooc on principle afshsjsksidk but whens that ever stopped anyone i suppose. it lowkey feels like ppl just wanted a m/m harbinger pairing at any cost 💀 and i suppose scara being an immortal puppet wasnt like known early on so i suppose the ship becoming a thing in like 1.1 is fair enough? but still my current feelings wrt ajax age gap w the harbingers do stand

[strawberrystepmom]

!!!!! will you pretty please share more lore around your black clover sona? 🤲🏾

well now that you’ve given me license to yap be aware that i will….you have been warned.

but let me start with the basics about kendall the eldest daughter of house melro, nicknamed the blackbird.

- 11 siblings, two of which are full and the other nine are half. ten of these siblings are girls and the youngest is a boy. lord melro is a serial philanderer, it is what it is.

- mother was clover kingdom nobility, father is diamond kingdom nobility. their marriage was arranged and my mother’s family is wayyyyyy wealthier so it was an easy sell for my dad whose family was minor nobility in diamond. he hasn’t been back to diamond since and doesn’t really care what’s happening there lmao and my dad inherited her fortune and titles when she died when i was 16.

- was once heir to everything, thanks to the rules of my mother’s house that have always allowed an eldest daughter to become head because she was an eldest daughter and had all sisters, but once the youngest and only boy was born my father changed his mind. marrying me off became imperative at that point. he was born when i was 17 and a year out from debuting.

- i received a grimoire at 15 and waffled about my desire to join the magic knights for a bit too long and when my mom died, i decided to stay home and take care of my siblings. all of them. at the time there were 8 of us.

okay and onto the juicy stuff which i will put below a cut for everyone’s sake. this is the master of whispers stuff, etc etc.

- the wizard king attends a classroom session for a group of noble girls to oversee how the magic in the kingdom is developing. my magic is movement based and he found my spell translucent cloak very fascinating because it allows me to remain move completely unseen and undetected for 60 seconds. i can use this ability on up to four other people around me but there is a ten second penalty for each person added meaning if i have four people and myself, we have 10 seconds to move.

- he asks me if i would be interested in joining the magic knights and i told him due to my responsibilities at home, I believe it’s better for me to stay behind. he’s disappointed but understands and a couple years later, he asks me again bc there’s a lot of buzz about my debut which was a whole thing and i decline again bc my father wants me to be married immediately but im like visibly upset so Julius offers a strange alternative - to be his ears. im popular in noble circles, im trusted, people dont suspect a thing about me and he knows my magic is beneficial for subterfuge and diversion if i’d ever need it

- I agree but I’m extremely skeptical about how this will work out. this dude barely knows me, I barely know him and he’s putting a lot of trust in me. it ends up working out splendidly though because i have an ear for the good stuff, naturally, and people open up to me. i dont report anything to him except for things that could potentially be problematic in the future and he’s pleased with my performance

- i am proposed to by a nobleman not long after this begins and i turn it down. my dad is patient with this one and understands to some degree that I want to be at home to take care of the kids which he won’t complain about so he can go be a dick elsewhere. after that, three more come and I turn each of them down because I don’t want to have to choose between men I hardly want to be in the same room with and working for Julius and defending my country in my own way

- by the fourt failed proposal (im 22 when this happens) my dad doesn’t find it cute anymore bc now he has a real heir and he just wants to get me out of the house. he tells me the next one i have to go through with regardless and we fight about it but I ultimately agree but plan to basically scare away any suitors that come. I continue working for Julius as expected and he begins to trust me even further, appointing me his spymaster although it’s not a formal title.

so yeah! it only becomes more useful as time passes and of course this is a very secretive position and nobody knows about it. people have suspected but nobody can prove anything and until I met yami, I intended on keeping it to myself. I told him and he was maaaaaaaad at me and assumed I was spying on him at first but once he confirms everything with Julius he gets over himself

Julius legit tells him “she’s terrible at deception but wonderful at making friends. she’s a natural” and who is he to disagree

[redrunningmoogles]

i can't believe i never realized that US American Folk music heavily permeates the pop music that's popular today. Like just because US Americans don't have say, Rancheras or straight-up anything that they refer to as a folkloric genre of modern music, doesn't mean it's not there.

I tried listening to Chapell Roan and while I like her as a visual artist and performer and person, her music doesn't have what I look for (which is harmonic and melodic complexity and an interesting blend of timbres but that's beside the point). However, if you had blindfolded me and played her music, I would say "Wow this is sooo American Folk, clearly this artist derives from the classics of American Folk music." but I don't think her fans would hear it like that. I had a similar experience listening to Alanis Morrissette and even Avril Lavigne. AvrilLavignes's "Complicated" sounds so country I don't understand why I have never heard anyone point that out before. Yet both alanis Morissette and Avril Lavigne are recognized as explicitly rock stars.

I don't have a particular thesis here, maybe it's that rock being such a global music genre means that even American Folk music inevitably tendrils into other countries' popular music spheres (though I'm a fan of 60's mexican rock and 90s Mexican ska rock so maybe I shouldn't even complain). But I'm more struck by the absence of like, recognition. Do fans of Chapell Roan not hear her as a descendant American Folk? at all? Like that would be like someone hearing Peso Pluma and thinking he isn't either. Brazilian Phonk is gaining popularity as well and don't we all hear that as like. explicitly Brazilian. But do people hear American musicality someone like Alanis Morissette or sometimes Avril Lavigne or Chapell Roan?

The other thing I wanted to point out (that I can't believe i never noticed) is that the composition of these musicians IS explicitly American in maybe the same way a modern take on Mariachi or Bachatas or Cumbias or Reggaeton is. Those genres gain popularity because of their cultural relevance as dance music (and then you know, cumbia especially, became more popular and commercialized and became more compositionally simple). US American culture has less of this trend. Lots of American Folk music is heavily harmony and chord-progression based. It makes sense when you consider the primarily religious function of music from colonization and onwards. I always found it curious that most American Folk musicians were soloists, just them and the guitar, nothing like drum + charango + violin or something. YES I am aware of the bluegrass and old time bands, but those genres did not reach popularity as American Folk music in the same way like um. Joni Mitchell did. Yes I'm aware that Black Jazz bands and Black Church choirs constitute American Folk music, but historically those genres have been separate in such a way that they produced distinct musical descendants (and also the reason for which white rappers and jazz and RnB musicians either weren't a thing or just made music that was audibly different from the original).

Anyway what I'm saying here is that isn't it fucking crazy that like. Someone like Chapell Roan sounds like an American Folk musican, because she is, her music is composed and sung that way. But it's bizarrely not seen as an American cultural thing, its just "global" now. But she's so clearly a product of American Folk music! Like I can't imagine anyone doing that with like, Peso Pluma or like even Bad Bunny. Even Americans themselves dont see her as a continuation of their Folk music (at least i dont think so? idk i dont listen to that much American Folk music at all ever, so Im mostly basing this on online comments about her and how she is talked about in the news). Like it drives me a little crazy that white US americans DO have, in a way, folkloric cultural knowledge/tradition but like. dont see it that way.

Im not even going to touch on the global nature on rock music because tbh thats kind of a different can of worms since rock music is like. black (and west/north African) at its core.

(anyway send asks about any genre of music anywhere in the world i will probably know something about it)

[oh-cramity-its-amity]

real! I used to love her (ts) but she feels very different than she used to. I’ve listened to phoebe bridgers a bit, she was good just not the type of music I usually listen to. Boy genius and Lucy Dacus are both amazing tho. They for sure deserved to win Aoty, or sia

sorry for how long this got??? i just started writing and oh whoops....

anyway- THATS what ive been saying about her unfortunately. its like after folklore/evermore things genuinely changed because of all the fame and popularity. people werent criticizing her anymore and instead overly praising her.

which isnt bad! i do think she deserves praise over folklore. the marketing of it being a suprise album was very clever too. but i think before those folklore there was a sense of criticism that people had with her music that kept her wanting to innovate it.

i have a strong believe that social media's algorithms are failing artists to innovate pop music in the same way than 00's pop music did just because of how much less artists have to lose now with their brandings. i once again bring up artpop by lady gaga and how much she lost for her idea???? and now??? gaga was really fucking killing it. her music had such creativity and passion put into it that you can SEE her drive in that. (also to know i didnt understand artpop as an album until MUCH later in my life)

but taylors lack of needing to innovate her sound due to her popularity and lack of criticism really has just shown how much her music has come to decline in quality. if you see the transition between fearless and speak now. those two albums. she TOOK the criticism that she "couldnt write her own songs" and literally flipped that narrative to write that entire album herself. and to me? arguably speak now is MY favorite taylor album.

and the transition between speak now to red to 1989 to reputation. theres SO much that happened in that sense of time. theres different sounds that make those albums what they are. 1989 was such a creative endeavor for her because it was her first step into pop music. i think was also her first time working with jack? now people say her decline on music is his fault as a producer but i dont believe his role had gotten bad until midnights. (i saw people discussing clairo's sling album because he produced it. but THEYRE WRONG. SLING IS GOOD AND HIS ERA OF BAD PRODUCING HAPPENED IN 2023(?) i forget when midnights came out ugh thats how many taylor albums we have gotten ffs)

but the breakaway and challenge 1989 gave really set up for reputation. she disappeared because of all the hate. and i think while I DONT SUPPORT that type of treatment because no one should go through that type of mental low... that really set her into a space to create more fluidly and with more passion?

lover- people will say was a flop.. and ill admit too... cruel summer?? shouldve never ever became a single. it was better as a hidden gem. but lover was good for the majority of songs!! there's still passion in it.

it was just that after folklore/evermore it felt very.... underwhelming and not like her at all. the quality slipped so so off the page. it just feels very recycled and unnecessary. especially like i said the fandom doesnt help with overconsumtion and she really truly should use her platform for more. the economy being in shambles and yet she wants to charge $700 for a concert ticket. (nothing bad if like someone WANTS to go but its genuinely ridiculous because inflation shouldnt BE like that).

not to even cover merch??? why is it so high?? shouldnt you want it to be accessible to your fans since you have so many?? vinyl prices are ridiculous but WHY is a hoodie almost $100. im sorry but like why 😭. cant we just charge $60 again?????

anyway all that to say that after the evermore era her music genuinely slipped off. im just thankful that the speak now rerecord didnt get BOTCHED as high hell. i have opinions about the vault tracks because the entire reason was to include tracks from that era and yet its like your smearing shit onto a perfectly wonderful painting and saying "look yall!! i added to this!!" wrong. wrong wrong wrong. idk. 1989's vault tracks just made me mad. it felt so unlike the vibe of what 1989 was???? and slut was NOT written at the time of 1989. come on.

timeless though off of the rerecord for speak now.... i will defend that one with my honor. i genuinely am glad speak now's vault tracks didnt get horrible treatment. i like that she kept the solo writing with the entire album. adding on fob and hayley's collabs as a callback because i really remember seeing videos of her singing sugar were going down and thats what you get during the speak now tour. it just felt like a full circle moment for that. fob's collab couldve been better but im glad it wasnt like... bad.

stilllll think matty's collab couldve been iconic on slut. even if i hate 1989's vault tracks as a whole... the 1975 does have good music. I KNOW. controversial yeah. anyway. hes got talent tho.

i found phoebe during 2020 when i was listening to a bunchhh of different artists (the 1975 too yeah). but punisher found me and i used to not be able to sleep due to anxiety/insomnia back then and i would listen to that album for months to just SLEEP.

i have a closeee bond with it. its like my favorite if not a close second of my favorite album of all time. its just really interesting?? also really valid that its not your type of music either. i just hold her stuff close. also did a english assignment on smoke signals' lyrics. i remember that. i got to say "fuck the cops" in the assignment and felt very proud of myself LMAO.

in terms of lucy- i for some reason never have gotten around to listening to her stuff?? even though i know i need to and should?? i just always somehow forget. many people have told me to but oh man i forget.

glad we can agree that they deserved album of the year btw.

sorry for the LENGTHY reply but yeah!! i might be forgetting to talk about something but askinf about my special interests (music) will always give you a lengthy answer.

[milkywayan]

hi. could you recommend medieval literature? thank you :)

uuh, yes i can but that really depends on the fact if you can understand german! i dont know if there are english translations of it (i read them in dual language editions, with middle high german and new high german) - i only have read one book that is not german

But in case you can, here are the ones i read in the past year (the not german one is the last one):

Collection of poems by Walther von der Vogelweide - one of the most famous german speaking minnesänger, lived from 1170 - 1230, and has stolen my heart with his diss tracks to the pope; author of the Famous 'Palästinalied' written as propaganda during the crusades

Collection of poems by Neidhart von Reuental - another important german speaking minnesänger, born around 1180/90, so a younger contemporary of Walther, sings a lot about the 'stupid peasants' and how they try to emulate life of the nobles (great fun, the peasants hated him); the Neidhart persona was very self depricating, depticting an unlucky knight; my favourite song of his is 'Meie din liechter schin'

Der Ackermann by Johannes von Tepl - probably one of my absolute favourite books ever, written in the early 15th century as a story for a friend of Johannes von Tepl, who himself was an educated man from northern bohemia; technically already early new high german and not middle high german; the story is a dialogue between a man and death - the mans wife has just died and he starts insulting death, demanding to bring her back. it goes back and forth, and they discuss life, death, humanity creation, god and grief. i loved it

Ein kurtzweilig Lesen von Dil Ulenspiegel - written around 1515 by an anonymous author in early new low german; german speaking people are more familiar with the modern name Til Eulenspiegel. I grew up with the modern adaptations of the story, but the late medieval ones are so, so much more crude. it is a collection of short stories, telling the tale of Dil Ulenspiegel, a silly boy/young man who does silly things. a medieval comedy, nothing profound. the original print has nice wood cut illustrations. it was widely popular, because medieval people could read (although they couldn't necessarily write)

Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach - written around 1200-1210 in southern germany, picks up athurian legend. i am half way through and have personal beef with wolfram. but it is good, a lot of depictions of noble life and medieval morals and ideas. makes A LOT of references to other writers of the time, including Walther von der Vogelweide, Gottfried von Straßburg (see next book) and Hartmann von Aue (see below)

Tristan by Gottfriend von Straßburg - written around 1210, is the german adaptation of the tale of Tristan and Isolde. I have not read it yet, but the books are on my shelf to be read as soon as I am done with Parzival

Erec by Hartmann von Aue - written around 1180/90 is said to be the first arthurian story written in german and an adaptation of the old french Erec et Enide - same as above have not read it yet

Iwein by Hartmann von Aue - second arthurian story, written around 1200, also adaptation of the old french story - same as above i have to still read it

The tale of the two lovers by Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (future Pope Pius II) - written in latin (there are english translations!) in the mid 15th century for a friend while at the court of Vienna, this is the most famous medieval erotic novel we have! It is about a married woman falling in love with one of the holy roman emperors men while they visit the town in italy she lives in, and the spicy affair they end up having, probably based on a similar story that happened. Aeneas lived a wild life and was old beyond his age, having 2 kids with two different women in two different countries out of wedlock and being a well travelled poet. he also hated women, like, A LOT. after he became pope he wanted to supress the circulation of the book, but is was a best-seller so it didnt work evidently, as i have read it in the 21st century

In addition to that, as a historical fencer I also read the sources, but these will be boring to people who dont care, but here are some anyways:

The Art of Swordsmanship by Hans Lecküchner - most famous source for Langes Messer techniques

Das Fechtbuch by Albrecht Dürer - yes, THE Dürer wrote a fencing book, completely in verse with nice illustrations!

Jude Lew - his fencing manuals are also nice, no illustrations only text

Hope this helps in a way.. again, i read mostly german medieval literature, so idk if this is useful as idk if any of these books have been translated

[alligaytorswamp]

Can we get a bit more about Lutz's story? What are his relations to he Wansheng funeral parlor? Does he have any unique interactions with Barbara or any other members of the church? What about with Venti?

UADHSAJKHADSJKH THANK YOU FOR ASKING THISSSS AUGH !! okay okay i will uhhh spam it under the cut, because god knows i have a yapping disease-

re: more story- i could probably write an essay on exactly how his life went. however. that is definitely too much info, so i have to ask which part are you talking about ? 👁

his life is split up in somewhat okay parts on here, maybe that helps akjdhaskljhdsjka

re: wangsheng funeral parlor i dont think he has been to liyue... at least for now i havent created any canon event that would involve that but! he knows about it, i think some characters from liyue who visit mond would maybe talk about it ? he is The Cemetery boy, i feel like it makes sense and Lutz thinks it's coolest place! Like it just sounds very impressive to him, he thinks to have such a place that's been running for so long is just a nice thing? Openness about death is also smth he respects. And I'm sure he heard bits and piece about Hu Tao so he thinks she is cool too LOL Maybe makes a joke that like if he ends up dying in Liyue he will make sure to get a deal in wangsheng

idk if mond has a funeral parlor... is there none at all, or there is it's just smaller/has a different name? either way Lutz wishes Mond had smth like Wangsheng lol

members of the church: he is close to a lot of nuns in there, mostly because they were the ones taking care of him, after his family died i think he is a Known Character to all regular church goers (he works there, he is a church boy himself, after the tragedy i think it would be impossible to miss an entire child with bandages over half of his face)

Barbara... hm.... i think they are on friendly terms and act more like colleagues? I dont think they ever got super close... I believe Barbara is a bit younger than him, and given her popularity and all.. yeah Lutz just doesn't wanna bother her too much? She seems busy already lol But he does have a very good opinion on her

Rosaria... i think Lutz is scared of her. LMAO. there is just weird spooked respect he feels towards her. He is also lowkey impressed with the fact that she isn't even that devoted... he can... understand that 👁

Venti... are we talking just some bard dude? I don't think Lutz has a strong opinion on him. He likes his music that's for sure... thinks he is oddly young looking.. but dats about it

Venti as in Lord Barbados and just Anemo Archon? Oh Lutz has a mixed feeling on him he is a church boy, so being mildly religious was smth put into his brain from the young age. However. After losing his entire family and also getting hurt like that..? I feel like it's understandable he became doubtful.. when someone promises you that gods are looking out for you and then THIS happens? Yeah idk i think Lutz definitely had a moment where he became a total non-believer/hater as he was going through the motions of dealing with his grief. Like he definitely blamed all the archons for it at least once. Over the years tho... i think he just.. calmed down? Like he isn't a total believer still, but he isn't against it. He just no longer puts too much faith into 'powers above'. and he thinks archons are unlikely to care about fates of some random people... which is understandable to him...

[freebooter4ever]

If you weren't actually meaning to open a convo on the all star game feel free to ignore this!

But I think it just has a lot to do with how the all star weekend involves a ton of media so even if they enjoy the game/events themselves there's a lot of strings attached. Like all your coworkers are posting vacation photos, and you may have even been on vacation with them, but you had to cut yours short to work. Sure the office is also throwing a party but it just isn't quite the same as having those days off.

lol!!! Well its not really a discussion on my part because i will just never be able to understand the player's perspective, but i find it fascinating to hear explanations of why the players dont like it - partially because i wonder if the league was a little more "hip", if it could be salvaged.

For one thing, for some of us salary challenged people 'vacation' is not really a thing - i always used my time off to go home and visit my grandparents. Though quite honestly i'd rather hang out with grandma for five days doing nothing but puzzles than sit on a beach doing nothing for five days. When i lived and worked on the east coast i spent most of the year missing my grandparents and the pacific northwest and wishing i was there, so naturally it was always the first place i went to when i got a chance. Im weird. And boring. I realize this.

Secondly, when i did work in education there was this yearly conference and pretty soon after i became in charge of the art department we started bringing the whole team to these conferences. It was the highlight of my year - im not even kidding, im that much of a nerd. I thought my team were the greatest people ever - a sort of found family if you will - and getting to be stuck for an entire weekend with them in some of the most boring cities the united states has to offer never failed to entertain. You know how when you're with people you love everything just feels more exciting? Even dumb shit like getting lost on the DC subway because the foodie of your group wants to try a very specific japanese restaurant thats in a far corner of the city on the opposite end of where the hotel is located. Or getting lost in Atlanta because we had to walk all over the old olympi*c grounds just to see some old stadium so the sports fans in our group could take a photo. Actually now that i think about it most of our outings involved getting lost while walking places. Im not even going to go into detail about the more boring cities because im embarrassed to admit that i found even the most mundane events Really Exciting with these guys. I had a blast, this was the highlight of my LIFE, i dont have very many friends or get out much, lol. I miss those days. I see some of the team individually, like when i last visited pittsburgh, but its not the same as being trapped in a random city and having to entertain yourselves during the off hours when you're not giving presentations. These conferences were also the only time i ever experienced Popularity. Being able to sit in a hotel lobby and have people come up to me, because they recognized me (or my team) was a blast. This is the ideal scenario for a shy person who loves talking to people but cant start a conversation to save my life. I did not care that most of these fans were educators over 40, they all had interesting stories and hearing them talk about using our program helped me come up with new things to implement next so it was a win-win. I also shamelessly used this time to do research on the history of our team. The group peaked in the 90s/2000s and it was really easy to get the older members to start talking about those days. i could probably write a book with everything i learned over the years. except not because even education nerds have scandal. the thing i always found is that if a person seems boring its just cause you haven't asked them the right questions yet.

There was one instance of a guy my age who came up to me and turned out to know the sculpting program i used, and was canadian so we had the whole pacific northwest thing in common, so after the con was over for the day the two of us went out on the town alone. And stayed out till like 2am, not doing anything wild (we visitd tourist sites! We bought smoothies!) i believe we ended up hanging out on an empty playground and talking philosophy, but im pretty sure that was the closest i will ever get to having a one night hookup. The hookup part did not happen because i was too shy to invite him back to my hotel room, and he was staying in a buddhist temple because it was the cheapest housing available and he was a broke grad student studying machine learning and art. I still remember that night, that was the Best night, partially because it was so unexpected and a random happenstance meeting of two strangers who would normally never come together.

Aaaaaall that said, i do realize we are talking about hockey players here who i imagine are maybe not the best conversationalists, and maybe would much rather be sleeping on a beach somewhere. And most of them are probably not the creative type to make exploring a city new or interesting no matter how many times you've been there. (with the exception of sid*ney cro*sby who as we all know is excellent at scavenger hunts). So all right, yeah, maybe i too wouldn't relish the idea of being stuck in a city with a whole bunch of hockey bros.

I also imagine its very different asking someone like sid if he enjoys the all*star game versus asking some player who isnt the best in the league and maybe just got there because of a voting fluke or the rest of his team is just shitty, and is maybe fairly new to the league and this is his first time going, and holy shit he's sitting next to sid at breakfast. Cmon theres got to be at least one guy having that experience even if they would never admit it because its uncool to fangirl.

[imunbreakabledude]

more musing inspired by current vid i am watching and my habit of music about language in OSRS... karadus getting adamant about other, smaller monsters that spawn in a boss fight being called "adds" - which i understand IS the most common term for this throughout gaming in general. (he also started talking about how "you ALWAYS focus down the adds immediately, that's just gaming strategy" which made me chuckle because in OSRS there are really only some cases where that applies, but generally it is optimal to ignore minions and DPS the boss if it is physically possible to get away with it.) i honestly only started to hear it recently bc anecdotally, more people in osrs have started using it recently, i assume this is a sign of the playerbase growing in the recent years.

but he is baffled to hear from his chat that in OSRS people rarely use the term "adds" and instead default to "minions", or, for some bosses, specific names according to that boss/minion. and it made me start wondering about why and how each of those terms became common usage.

"minions" i am not sure about. I feel like it comes from GWD, but in-game, isn't the term for them "bodyguards"? is "minion" ever officially used? or was that just the popular nickname players came up with when GWD first released and it stuck?

now I'm trying to think of which bosses have specific names for their adds/minions and why that is.

bosses whose minions are typically just "minions" as far as my gut and mind can remember - Sarachnis, Skotizo, Abyssal Sire; GWD including Nex (but these can also be 'bodyguards'), Scurrius

jad and zuk = healers. pretty straightforward, descriptive of their role and why you DO need to target them

TOB has tons of specific names that I am not intimately famliar with because I haven't learned TOB, but they're a mix of common/easy nicknames like "reds" "crabs" and very niche technical names referring to when they pop up in the fight like "15s" "45s" or whatever (I am probably saying the wrong numbers lol but I know they use numbers to refer to some of them like the nylos that spawn on various percentages of Maiden's health I think)

corp = just "core" i think? funny thing is no one ever really talks about the dark cores because the corp method is so stupid and broken that you dont traditionally engage with ANY of its mechanics

Several more bosses where I think the common names are just the actual ingame names or shortened forms thereof and rarely discussed because the mechanics are pretty straightforward to deal with them: Vetion/Calvarion hellhounds; scorpia guardians (or maybe some people say healers? who ever talks about scorpia tbh); venenatis/spindel spiderlings/spiders, Vorkath spawn; Bryophyta growthlings; lizardman shaman spawns; zulrah snakelings; araxxor's araxytes (typically just called green/red/white instead of their variant names tho); kraken tentacles; kephri (range/melee/mage) scarabs (I feel like these are sometimes 'minions' tho); baba's baboons; nightmare's sleepwalkers/parasites (i think; i havent learned nightmare but I only hear people call them by their specific names); Royal Titans elementals

yeah, the more I think about it the more "minions" feels like the default term in place of "adds" in osrs, but it's really common to just use the actual name of the creature (or some other simple but non-generic name for them). or a descriptor of their role/attack style such as "meleer/mager/ranger/healer." (karadus was also pointing out how it's stupid in his eyes to say "mager" specifically rather than "mage", and he has a point there, but I would somewhat counter with: to me "mage" implies a humanoid spellcaster, while "mager" feels more like an OSRS evolution from that to describe a non-humanoid monster that uses a magic attack style that does not overtly look like 'spellcasting'. because we still say 'mage' instinctively for like, a zammy mage or sara mage on a clue scroll, or a spiritual mage. but we say 'mager' for things like ket-zeks or boss minions that attack with mage.)

also, because i like listing and categorizing things, I wanna analyze that assumption about "always focusing the adds first" and see how much it applies in OSRS. because generally, it doesn't! I feel like there are a few categories (and some of these approaches for bosses can obviously vary depending on levels/gear when tackling the boss)

Bosses where you are HARD-REQUIRED to kill the minions (boss gains invulnerability while they are alive): Vetion/Calvarion; Nex; Bryophyta

Bosses where you are SOFT-REQUIRED to kill or at least tag the minions because there are steep enough penalties if you don't that it's not worth it: Jad; Zuk; Vorkath; Venenatis/Spindel; kephri mage scarab;

Bosses where you have an alternate tactic to deal with the minions (e.g. freezing them) and don't have to kill them, but kinda have to kill them if not utilizing that specific tactic: Scorpia, Some of TOB I think (Maiden crabs i think? idk if Verzik crabs could be considered in this category too?); Kephri melee/range scarabs depending on strategy and invo levels; Araxxor (kinda, slash, you kill them in special ways to kill them fast);

Bosses where you optimally flat-out ignore the minions and DPS the boss, possibly killing minions during respawn timer: Skotizo; Sarachnis; Kraken; Abyssal Sire; main GWD generals; Scurrius; Zulrah (with a ring of recoil); Royal Titans

I think it's pretty neat that there's a good amount of variety in OSRS of how you deal with minions, whether it's acknowledging or ignoring them and whether you can take any specific alternate tactics to speed up dealing with the minions or mitigate damage from them to enable you to ignore them or even use them to speed up the boss

[ange1uqui]

Angeles's ENG1121 Blog

In class we read 3 stories. Tim Maughan's "Flyover Country," Shirley Jackson's "The Man in the Woods," and Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains", Out of all of them, Tim Maughan's "Flyover Country" was the most interesting one. Tim Maughan's "Flyover Country" is a story that uncovers the truth of America. The message of "Flyover Country" was that since tech is getting better and better and advancing every time, it has increased the growth of companies needing labor to make whatever tech is popular or growing rapidly. If I were to make an overall statement that can be explored in many ways it would be the overall dangers of the technology. I say this because there isn't just one reason why technology is bad. Technology is basically anything human beans create to make life easier. And if you ever hear the word tech, It's just a short word to say technology. It is known for its pros, I mean.. technology is a pretty good tool to have, we have data access as in the internet and phones which we use daily. And other devices for example, tablets, laptops, desktops and lets not forget one of my favorites, smart home technology. There are many more but these are just a few. But yes, we use it to improve our lives and to process and solve some problems we may have. As much as I love tech there is very much a downside to it all. Technology is inescapable these days. Everything became digital and advanced. While people do see its benefits, we also see its horrible effects. In this blog I'll talk about 3 risks of technology.

The first thing that I say is a huge problem is mental health, why is it important? Because without you being mentally well, you can't really do your best. But yes, using tech does affect us. Two things it causes are emotional problems and health problems. This can go from not feeling so well mentally and overeating or undereating. This is caused by excessive use of social media. This includes, X, instagram, tiktok, snapchat, facebook and many more applications. I think social media causes a lot of stress because nowadays people are just so attached to their phones and can stumble upon all types of negative stuff. One I personally struggled with is comparison. Which is comparing yourself to others online. I know I’m not the only one who has. But it is bad because it causes low self esteem, body image issues, etc. Which is bad because some of these “influencers” aren't even real. It’s all just fake. Another issue with social media is that you can just say whatever to anyone without any real consequence partly because it's the internet, ANYONE can say anything and upload anything. In the journal article “The Mental Health Effects Relative to Social Media” by Tiffany A. Lesnik, it explains how social media takes a big part in our mental health. How it ruins our relationships around people and how it causes us to act differently and distant. Lesniks says negative effects of social media are “Inadequacy about your life or appearance, (1) Fear of missing out (FOMO), (2) Isolation (3) increased depression and anxiety, (4) Self-absorption, (5) Risk of stalking and continuation of dysfunctional contacts. (6) Cyberbullying (7)”. Social media really does play a role in mental health and I don't a lot of people understand that. I even myself have gone through some of these affects. And it’s just bad. I would say a balance would be okay but sometimes I wish it never really existed. It’s just very harmful for society sometimes. Especially now, since most kids now are just growing up with such advanced technology and having access to it so freely.

Another thing about technology that could be bad is AI, Ai is useful at times but I dont think it's 100% either. Ai is like teaching a computer to process, learn and think just like a human bean does. Artificial intelligence completes activities that would normally need human intelligence. AI is capable of learning and problem solving and offers recommendations. A lot of people use AI to help them study or improve their work or to get just quick answers. Chatgbt and other AI tools hurt students' learning abilities such as independent learning and critical thinking. And it's bad because it makes them rely on this stuff. But where does AI exactly get this information? Sometimes AI does take just information and just mushes it together. With no credit given as well. So at the end people don't know if it's reliable or not. And a lot of people don't check and verify if the data they got is correct. Ai is used everywhere now and is rapidly advancing. In the journal article “From chalkboards to AI-powered learning: Students’ attitudes and perspectives on use of ChatGPT in educational settings” by Hacer Güner, Erkan Er, Gökhan Akçapinar and Mohammad Khalil they explain two reasons why ai is bad in their opinion, their main concerns towards ai is there's just no real academic honesty anymore “ChatGPT can be instructed to generate human-like instant yet accurate responses based on a specific role, which increases the risk that students may use them unethically… privacy and security, considering the risk of data breaches or misuse. As chatbots can collect and store student data such as names, email addresses, and learning preferences” There's data that shows AI affects their creativity and leads them to being lazy. And it's also super important to know the Ai tools you use are keeping your data private and safe. Although students gained effectiveness, they reported a drop in confidence in their academic ability and increased reliance on resources like Chatgbt and ai in general. I remember when I first heard about ai and I was so confused because I just couldn't believe how that was even possible. It just shows times are changing.

And lastly, the internet. The internet is a good place to go to when you have questions or concerns or need data for a specific topic you have. As much as I love the internet. It is most definitely not the safest nor very accurate. But it depends on what you're looking at really too and where you are getting the data from. Just make sure the information is reliable at all times. And again, it's the internet. Anyone can put anything there. And people would believe it or not. It all depends, but for a person that doesnt have much knowledge, I wouldn't blame nor judge them if they took the info and thought it was right, when it wasn't. Cyber threats are also a big thing, it impacts every area in the United States and around the world. Hackers are also really bad, there are specific ways they get stuff done. Journal article “Electronic Commerce, Hackers, and the Search for Legitimacy: A Regulatory Proposal” by Michael Lee, Sean Pak, Tae Kim, David Lee, Aaron Schapiro, and Tamer Francis mentions an example which is, “hackers can also gain unauthorized access by exploiting undetected security flaws in the design, implementation, or operation of secured systems. These security flaws can arise for a number of reasons, including "software bugs, lack of attention to security, and poor configuration." A couple ways they hack is by snooping and downloading, tampering or data diddling, jamming or flooding, injecting malicious code, keys and exploiting flaws in design, implementation or operation. Now this one is a simple one, cracking passwords, codes. And lastly, spoofing. I actually know lots of people that fell for this unfortunately. This is very scary because information being stolen can cause property theft, identity theft and fraud. It's crazy how with just your information, so much bad stuff can be done.

In conclusion, I love technology but there are obviously cons. It all depends how you use it. And definitely a balance. But for sure, I’m more on the bad side. There's always going to be strings attached to every new technology. All new tech brings all sorts of societal, environmental, economic consequences. 

[nyancrimew]

ok nvm story time now (my memory is hazy af (trauma etc) so some of this has plot holes and some stuff may be slightly different from how it happened) also cw mentions of suicide and self harm and stuff, it's an emo story ok (also this is sort of just a complete oversharing trauma dump sorry)

so yea start of high school, i am shy and weird and autistic and kinda fail to make friends, some romantic drama happens that i dont fully understand which fucks my brain up real hard (and is probably where a lot of my bpd behaviors first show up), and i overshare about my struggles with like every girl in the class which ofc results in people laughing about me behind my back, but there is one person who actually starts to listen and is nice to me

so yea this girl quickly becomes my best friend, she was also an outcast and also depressed and we kinda bonded over that and would just spend hours upon hours traumadumping at each other. as we grew closer and became kinda just the known weird emos of the year we'd just start talking about self harm, exchanging stupid ideas related to that and we were like the real life version of emo girls in us highschool dramas. like we'd be at lunch and for once someone else sits down with us and we'd just tell them about how we wanna kill ourselves or how all the popular girls are evil and we have a murder plot or some shit.

there was also lots of linkin park and metal and meeting up at the manga store where even the owner knew how emo we were, it was like a whole thing. i don't know if anyone ever called us emo explicitly but we literally were text book examples of emo girlies (me sort of realizing i was a girl at the time as puberty was hitting certainly also was a part of it).

anyways basically i am kinda curious what would've happened if i had known what tumblr is in like 2013, i sure would be somewhere entirely different in life now huh

i think it's funny how ten years ago i was an average tumblr emo girl except not on tumblr and not really a girl yet