#literally majoring in IR

[toxxictrait]

[roseofcards90]

Every time I go on Instagram I see my older friends who are already out of college and living their best lives with their own places and then I’m reminded of how much I’m fucking trapped here

[meat-loving-meat]

Valdemaran mind magic makes directed energy weapons viable send tweet

[yours-etc]

i’m literally crawling my way to this degree y’all, only one more semester left and yet so so so far away.

(i’ll update y’all in december if i make it)

[nomaishuttle]

its also good bc i can be extra bitchy when ppl in the comments r like WHERES THE APPRECIATION FOR (the most overrated and most talked abt performance of a character) NOBOFYS TALKING ABT THIS. and its like well i just scrolled 2 millimeters and theres another comment abt how good she is.. and oh look one below that that also says that.. wow and look at rhe one below that. and below rhat. and b

[queer-reader-07]

i learned about IR spectroscopy today and it's so so cool and i think we're doing a lab with it next week and oh my god i will be insufferable about it

[vaporseas]

fuck international relations everybody kys KYSSSS

THIS SHIT IS SO ASSSSSSSS its so eurocentric asf

[butchlifeguard]

i think i may not be normal

[snapscube]

In Dawntrail did you enjoy a different character playing the main role, or do you prefer when the player character is leading the narrative?

this is definitely a major point of contention in the fanbase rn and i can generally see valid feelings/criticism on both ends of the spectrum. i myself do fall somewhere in between the most extreme takes on this. i won't go into too much detail about actual events but ill tag this as spoilers anyway just in case. ok so my thoughts are:

firstly, i like Wuk Lamat a lot. i don't think she deserves even half of the pure unfiltered ire that she is receiving from a large subset of the community rn. the amount of people who have already turned being a wuk lamat hater into an advertised personality trait really frustrates me. i really enjoyed seeing her personal journey through the story and i was overall very satisfied by her inclusion. however, i do not think the story was perfectly paced or balanced, and i definitely do understand where people are coming from when they say that they could have used a little less of her in the forefront. honestly it did kind of ultimately disappoint me that we missed out on a lot of potential interaction/development with someone like Krile, who in spite of being promised a big breakout role in this expansion still somewhat felt like a SLIGHT (i have to stress slight) afterthought. she did get some notable moments of development and emotion, but i feel like there could have been more.

okay but, your question is about our role as a player in the narrative. i hold the opinion that for THIS EXPANSION SPECIFICALLY, the warrior of light taking somewhat of a narrative backseat actually made a ton of sense and fit the themes of the narrative as well as the promise of a somewhat breezy summer vacation for our heroes. now, i will say this: i really do not agree with the idea that the WoL should be in a mentor role indefinitely because our story is done developing and we need to give the spotlight to "the next generation" of heroes in the world. i appreciate the SENTIMENT of this, but like for me personally.... i don't want Pella's story to be done, yknow? i definitely would be disappointed if this was the DE FACTO role she played in every expansion past this. but i don't even think that is factually what's going to happen. we're currently in a setup phase! and, again, bringing it back to this narrative and the themes within, a lot of Dawntrail about the experience of entering unfamiliar places and learning about the customs and the traditions of people already within it to best help them without unwelcomely trampling on their culture in the process. i think a story like that is the PERFECT time for the WoL to take a bit of a backseat. wuk lamat is also somewhat unfamilar like us yes, but Tural is still her home and she is about to be tasked with leading it. i feel like centering our character in that equation would feel.... really disingenuous? it was kinda frustrating sometimes when it felt like hey.... there's a situation happening right now that can be solved by skilled combat and you have a literally god killer standing right here doing a frown emote, but at a certain point i could chalk it up to growing pains or necessary suspension of disbelief in the interest of the overall emotional hook of the narrative. a lot of those moments could be explained away with enough thought about the character motivations and culture at play, though sometimes it does feel like a stretch. again, far from a perfectly written MSQ. it starts slow and it's messy and it throws a LOT of stuff at you that doesn't always pay off like you expect or want. but i dunno! i think we're gonna see some really interesting stuff come to the forefront in the future, and i think especially now knowing that much of the playerbase thought we took TOO much of a backseat here CS3 will probably adjust their focus accordingly next time. so i can't be too upset really about the stuff i wasn't into. the rest of it was great imo!

[markantonys]

i'll be interested to see if this holds true for WOT s3 since the s1 finale had so many extenuating circumstances and can't really be included in the comparison, but based off of the s2 finale, i believe that season finales tend to bear the brunt of "It's Different From The Books!" ire because they are the culmination of all the smaller changes made throughout the season.

this turned into a bigger analysis post than i expected lmao par for the course with my blog! read on for exploration of how the 2x08 conclusion of each season-long arc is the the most emotionally satisfying conclusion and/or the most thematically appropriate conclusion possible based on the show's particular version of the story, plus a bonus tangent on the nature of adaptation.

for a finale episode, the writers' prime concern 100% has to be "wrapping up all the season's arcs in a way that feels satisfying with everything that's happened in the first 7 episodes, using the book version of the finale event as the framework" rather than "recreating the book version of the finale event exactly as it is with all the same scenes and themes". the nature of storytelling inherently means that every single person who tells the same story will focus on different themes (just think of how many versions of the hades & persephone story there are), and a good adaptation knows that being internally consistent with its own Emphasized Themes is more important than copying-and-pasting scenes from the source material without making any changes to account for the specific way this adaptation is telling the story.

(but a lot of people can't even get past this first point because they don't understand that this is how adaptations - how storytelling in general - work. like, person B literally cannot tell the exact same story that person A told without putting their own spin on it. it's not possible! unless they're simply reading out the exact words that person A wrote, which can't be done when putting 14 massive books into maximum 64 hours of tv. so many readers like to meet this point with "but why does the books' version of the story need to be changed at all?" which is just a non-starter because a) medium differences require a ton of changes, and b) even if no changes were *required*, they would happen anyway because that is human nature when it comes to storytelling. when it comes to story-listening too! ask a hundred different book fans what WOT is about and you'll get a hundred different answers. rafe & co can't possibly make an adaptation that captures every single reader's idea of What WOT Is About, and nobody in the world could ever re-tell the story of WOT in the exact same way that RJ told it, not even the most die-hard book fan; all rafe & co can do is focus on making sure the show honors the core of the books' story while also telling a good story in its own right, independent of the source material.)

i was a classics major, okay? it gets to me! anyway, corralling myself back on topic.

for 2x08, it's very telling just how far Minority Reader Opinion deviates from the general audience opinion. general audiences fucking LOVED this episode (it's the highest-rated on imdb out of the entire show, currently at a 9.0; most episodes are in the 7-8 range), but a bunch of readers call it disappointing and one of the worst episodes of the show. if it was actually a poor quality episode of television, the general audience ratings would reflect that too (as they do for 1x08, currently at a 6.4 (i personally think 1x08 gets way more hate than is deserved and i thoroughly enjoy that episode, but i accept that's just me)), but they don't.

so what does that mean? to me, it means that 2x08 is objectively a very good episode of television which general audiences found satisfying, but which some readers disliked because it prioritized the emotional & thematic needs of its own version of the story over the exact nature of the falme events in the source material. which is exactly what a good adaptation should do! if you forget the books and just look at the show (which the vast majority of viewers are doing), then every resolution that happens in 2x08 is the most satisfying resolution possible and/or the only resolution that was thematically permitted for that particular season storyline.

egwene: her season arc was about learning to stand on her own two feet and not cling onto her mentor figures or compare herself unfavorably to others. thus, her freeing herself from the a'dam is the most satisfying possible conclusion to her season arc. nynaeve and elayne freeing her in the books is nice, but in the show version, thematically, it would've undercut egwene's Overcoming Impostor Syndrome arc to go "yeah actually it's true that she's not good enough on her own and when it comes down to it she does always need nynaeve to help her out". that version worked in TGH where she didn't have an Overcming Impostor Syndrome arc, but it wouldn't have worked in the show where she did. (but, yes, egwene learning in 2x08 that she doesn't have to rely on others is a double-edged sword, which nicely sets up her later-series struggles with trying to shoulder too much herself and not letting even her friends or partner help her.)

rand: his season arc was about learning to lean on others and not isolate himself or try to protect his friends by withholding his burdens from them. thus, him failing to defeat ishamael until all his friends come to lend aid in various ways is the most satisfying possible conclusion to his season arc. rand defeating ishy singlehandedly in the books is nice, but in the show version, thematically, it would've undercut his Learning That Strength Is In Numbers arc to go "yeah actually it's true that rand is capable of winning his biggest battles all by himself and thus it's no problem for him to push his friends away". given the themes that s2 emphasized for rand, the only appropriate finale outcomes were either success with his friends' help or total failure on his own, and they chose the former. (that being said, rand pushing his friends away is a continuous issue for him throughout the series, so i doubt he's perfectly learned his lesson after 2x08; we shall see!)

interesting to note that rand and egwene have inverse arcs in a way (foils!) and that some elements of their book falme climaxes were swapped, and that the way the show has done it subverts the expected gender roles. typically, men are expected to be Lone Wolves and women to be Team Players, and the WOT books absolutely play into these stereotypes throughout the series (sometimes intentionally as social commentary, sometimes unconsciously as an accepted truth of the world), but 2x08 and s2 more broadly did the opposite with our yin-and-yang co-protagonists. it's egwene who has the arc about learning to be a Lone Wolf and rand who has the arc about learning to be a Team Player. and imo these subconscious gender role expectations are a part of why some readers (esp reddit) got SO heated about "how come egwene can succeed by herself but rand can't", because it feels Wrong to them and Not How Things Are Supposed To Work (they've never questioned why rand can succeed by himself but egwene needs her friends' help in TGH, or all the other times in the books when men succeed by themselves and women succeed by relying on each other). but it's a totally apples-to-oranges comparison because egwene and rand had totally different season arcs and focal themes (but many paralleling & foiling moments within that), and so they each get a conclusion tailor-made to their individual stories.

mat: his season arc was about realizing he's a good, worthy person, finding the inner strength to overcome his worst impulses and temptations, and coming through for his friends after leaving them at the waygate. thus, him getting his Big Damn Hero moment with the horn of valere, getting validation that he is literally a hero, and overall spending the episode doing all he can to support his friends is the most satisfying possible conclusion to his season arc. (but stabbing his bff just as he was flying on a confidence high and trying to save the day was a downer note to end on, so we've complicated his relationship with heroism and set up some more internal issues for him to wrestle with next season.)

perrin: his season arc was about learning to acknowledge his inner wolf but also coming to regard it with fear and to believe that wolf & human sides can't coexist and he must Choose One (.......suddenly being struck by the bisexuality metaphor of it all. nice!) thus, him giving into violence to murder a human to avenge a wolf is.....well, it's pretty upsetting for him and serves to reinforce his growing belief that his two sides can't coexist, but thematically, it's fascinating and sets him up for some really great internal (and external) conflicts in s3. he's just gotten what he thinks is pretty strong evidence to corroborate ishy's claim that embracing his wolf side means embracing the shadow, so he's set up for a season 3 of deep-diving into his relationship with violence and his inner wolf. it's also a neat parallel with 1x08: there perrin's avoidance of violence allowed fain to escape, whereas here his embracing of violence has traumatized him (again), so our poor guy is really feeling conflicted in the pacificism-or-violence question because both sides seem wrong to him right now. huh, i guess perrin's full-series arc is about finding a middle ground rather than one extreme (pacifism/tuatha'an/human) or the other (violence/aiel/wolf). i feel like i've just had an epiphany lmao this is why i love the show! it tells the same story as the books, but tells it in a different way that makes me think about it differently and gain new insights!

nynaeve: her season arc was about learning that she, on her own, as she is today, is not enough to protect her loved ones. this is a tough pill for both her and the audience to swallow! but it's needed for her character, and we see it in the books too. nynaeve has an incredible amount of power, but she's terrified of having that much power and wants to pretend it doesn't exist. she's resistant to change, she's used to being in charge, and she's very "my way or the highway". these are all things she needs to grow out of (or moderate, at least) in order to be able to step up and do her part for tarmon gai'don. she has to learn how to embrace her power instead of being afraid of it or being too stubborn to let other people guide her and teach her, so s2 shows her what happens if she doesn't, first hypothetically in the accepted test (everyone she loves dies because she's blocked and refused channeling training) and then for real in falme (she couldn't help elayne fully or rand at all because of her block). so her 2x08 conclusion being Total Failure is not emotionally satisfying, no, but it's thematically exactly what she needed and will goad her into facing her block head-on next season. thematically, like rand, nynaeve only had 2 options for falme: break her block and succeed, or retain her block and fail, and it was too soon for the former (we gotta let her cook a while longer, plus the story will become too easy if nynaeve, or rand, reaches supernova capability too soon), so it had to be the latter. if the show had gone with a third option of her succeeding without breaking her block, then that would've taught her and the audience that it's fine to leave the block in place and she doesn't need to challenge herself to grow as a person, because when it TRULY matters she can always get around the block.

other characters get appropriate resolutions too! moiraine and lan get to work together to succeed after being at odds and failing on their own all season (rand foils!). elayne gets validation that she is an essential and trusted part of the friend group after feeling like somewhat of an outsider earlier in the season. ishamael getting vanquished and lanfear betraying him only to be betrayed by him in turn is exactly where their mutual mistrust was leading them (and it shows us why it's so important that Team Light be able to work as a team rather than as self-interested individual operators; the contrast between ishy & lanfear looking at the seals together while plotting to betray each other vs. rand standing on the tower with all his friends behind him makes me cry your honor. imagine hating that ishy's defeat was a team effort, could not be me!)

(it's also worth noting that the characters who had the least individual success/victory in 2x08 (nynaeve, rand, perrin) are the ones who will have the biggest individual storylines in s3 (tanchico & moggy, waste arc, two rivers arc), whereas the characters who had the most individual success/victory (egwene, mat, moiraine, lan) are the ones who will be taking a bit more of a backseat (of course they all have their own stuff to do, but none of them is *the* lead character of their TSR/s3 traveling group). this is intentional!)

so there you have it. 2x08 is adored by the general audience, and it's because of this: it gives us some damn satisfying conclusions to all the season arcs (and some exciting and visually stunning battle sequences to boot), and all the viewers who AREN'T beleaguered by "But The Books!", which is most of them, recognize that for the good storytelling it is. i for one will always care far more about the show telling a good story within itself than the show being identical to the books, and rafe & co will too, as they should.

the only downside to the episode is that, yes, it is quite cramped for time because there are a lot of arcs to wrap up. this should be less of an issue in future seasons when the season finale isn't "every single major storyline converges in the same place at once". for example, judging by the "goldeneyes" episode title it seems s3 might split it up so that perrin's conclusion in the two rivers is in 3x07 while other conclusions in other locations are in 3x08, giving each more breathing room. whereas 2x08 had no choice but to stuff everything in that episode into that specific episode because it's not like perrin could just do his falme stuff an episode early and take a nap while everyone else was doing THEIR falme stuff in the next episode, nor could the full falme sequence have been split into 2 episodes since that would have disrupted the flow of the story. the only solution would be for 2x08 to be extra long, which is nice to imagine, but we all know that streaming shows almost never deviate from their set episode lengths and so there isn't much point sighing about "this episode should have been 90 minutes long!" because that just is not on the table, never has been, and never will be. the first step to being able to jive with an adaptation is making peace with the limits of its particular medium!

plus, the only things i might deem "missing" from 2x08 are non-essential (ingtar darkfriend reveal - that is NOT important fight me, it's only important in the books as our first example of a morally-gray shadow-aligned person but the show has already been doing that in spades) or will likely be included in 3x01 (the gang spending some time together to breathe and process and catch up). at the end of the day, the show is always going to need to be paced very very tightly with not as much breathing room as those of us accustomed to entire books dedicated to reacting to the previous book might expect. and 2x08 did manage to pack in a LOT of character work amidst all the action and did a good mix of resolving s2 arcs while leaving some unresolved to carry into s3 and introducing some new arcs/issues/conflicts, all within 70 minutes, which i find pretty impressive. in conclusion, 2x08 my fucking beloved <3

[bunnylovescat]

Modern AU - Tax Time, or Gentleman in the Streets, Freak in the (Excel) Sheets

Lan Wangji is an IRS auditor, recently transferred to the city. He’s sent to audit Lotus Piers Shipping after a few red flags were raised in their tax filings, his first audit in this city. When he arrives, he finds absolute chaos and gets annoyed about how little organization there is and how long it takes the receptionist to find the documents he needs. And then when he finds out there’s evidence of embezzlement and fraud…

Let’s just say he and Wei Wuxian don’t have the best of all meetings. It gets even worse when Jiang Cheng jumps in and blows up about it all because hey don’t talk to my brother like that, and brother why are you so stupid to fuck up the taxes like that.

(This involves LWJ using increasingly specific tax statutes and IRS internal rulings and the Jiang boys are just like…. Dude… touch grass…)

So Lan Wangji tells them everything they need to redo and what documents they need before giving them notice that he’ll be back in 90 days to go back over everything and if things aren’t like they were represented to the government and/or there hasn’t been an amended return filed things will not go well.

Meanwhile, LWJ and WWX keep bumping into each other… or rather LWJ keeps seeing WWX whenever he goes out into the city. Co-op owned farmers market? WWX haggling with old grannies and flirting with everyone as Wen Ning and Wen Yuan follow around behind him. Soup kitchen volunteer? WWX is kept on coffee refill duty, with Granny Wen and Uncle Four keeping a close eye on him to make sure he stays there.

Eventually LWJ is like. Sir, stalking me will not help your case. And WWX loses it laughing. LWJ has no idea how to deal with it so he just. Leaves his shopping basket in the middle of the Aldi to sit in his car and contemplate all the life choices that lead him here.

(Lots of internal screaming about the situation. Hot man is bad at tax and adulting is not the situation LWJ ever thought he’d be attracted to but here we are.)

Eventually it comes out that WWX and JC are essentially rebuilding Lotus Pier from the ground up after a family tragedy burned everything down and killed the rest of the family. So basically one business major with only two years of experience and one community college drop out with loads of customer service experience are trying to make a come back, despite other big corporations trying to make a move into their business.

(Looking at you Golden Carp Transport. Lots of shady there, and yet…)

The Wens were also left homeless from the fire, a huge, sprawling family from the northern part of the city, so WWX has essentially brought all of his second family in to help work it.

LWJ has a lightbulb moment and is like o. I fucked up. Hot man is bad at tax, but good at people.

JC is surprised when the Tax Man Cometh again, this time barging in, dropping a giant, color coded, tabbed, highlighted, and very detailed binder on his desk at 6 am, and being like. Here’s all the deductions to take, credits to take, and btw a list of clientele that are stuck in with Golden Carp hint hint nudge nudge, new customers do I have to literally hit you over the head with this or do you get it

JC, after his initial gtfo of my office moment, is like. Wait. What did my brother do to make you do this? What dirt does he have on you? Because pretty sure blackmailing a government official is very very illegal and legalities have not stopped him before.

LWJ has an immediate oh fuck, I’m being perceived moment and is just like. Tell your brother I did this and I will make you the most miserable of all people. And just … fucks off.

JC just groans and is like. How does my brother find these people? And gets to work.

When the 90 days are up, a different Lan comes by all smiley and tells them their refilling has been accepted and very well done on it. Meanwhile, WWX, who has very much been ‘Notice me Senpai’ every time he sees LWJ is like. What?

And LX gives him an updated version of, why does my brother like you again? He’s risking his employment for this?

So ofc the next time WWX sees LWJ he’s just like. I like you, I love you even though you’re a numbers nerd, please come home with me. And LWJ vows to make JC miserable, but later, after he shows WWX that he’s a freak both in excel sheets and in the bed sheets.

(This would involve a lot of math and accounting puns that WWX spent hours at work looking up on Google and trying out on the Lotus Pier accountant, who is just like. Sir. I’m trying to close the month and reconcile, I can’t read your brothers handwriting is this a 5 or an 8, please take your bad stand up else where.)

[spanishskulduggery]

Hi! Native Spanish speaker here

Could u explain the difference between Chilean/ Uruguayan-Argentinian Spanish?

I have amigos gringos y estaria bueno explicarles.

Me di cuenta que sabes español así que puedo pedírtelo asi jajaja

Muchas gracias! 🫶🏻

Saludos desde Uruguay 🇺🇾

I'm not even sure where to start, the accent itself is so different even though Chile is very close to everything else

I'm going to list some differences in no particular order as they come to me

-

I think it's because Chilean is a bit of an outlier compared to what they call rioplatense Spanish... like there are similar trends, but it's pronounced differently

The main grammatical difference I've found is that Argentina uses vos for everything - more than tú, more than usted... it's a lot of vos

[Historically a singular vos was quite fancy and the way you addressed nobility and people very politely; the common term of address Vuestra Merced turned into Usted over time. In Spain, vosotros is now plural and informal. But depending on the time period, vos still shows up in historical dramas and fairy tales or things set in medieval times like fantasy. It's my understanding that multiple languages have something similar....... in English, our informal "you" was "thou" tú and "you" was formal, but then "thou" became obsolete]

The voseo in most of South America is usually understood as more intimate and friendly than tú

The big exceptions to this are Argentina and Chile

In Argentina, again, vos is the de facto 2nd person singular pronoun [I believe plural is still ustedes "you all"]

In Chile, vos has a different meaning from what I've been told. It's not vulgar but it's kind of impolite. If you're addressing someone as vos in Chile it can read as "dude" or "bro" almost, it's very familiar and not how you'd want to address someone from the older generations

While Argentina uses vos for everything, Chile uses vos for close friendships or where informality won't cause offense

The other main issue is the conjugation of vos

The majority of South America (including Argentina) conjugate vos like the vosotros form just without the I

...Like vosotros sois "you all are" in Spain then turns to vos sos "you are" in South America; they keep the S, but omit the I

Chilean voseo usually takes that vosotros form but omits the S sound and leaves the I

And so you get something like vosotros habláis "you all speak" turning to vos hablái in Chile [while it would be hablás in Argentina or the rest of Río de la Plata]

The verb that always trips you up with Chile is going to be ser because there are two forms; vos soi but I've more commonly heard vos eri(s)... like I've heard Chilean eri puro blabla which is "you're all talk" but literally "you're all blah blah"

The other one that's a little weird is ir just because of how vosotros normally works

In Spain vosotros id "go" as a command, ve for tú, but then vas for regular rioplatense commands, and then Chile says vai which is like if you tried to say ve but had your mouth way open

Chile (specifically those from lower income backgrounds) tend to omit the S more than most, while the higher income backgrounds or those trying to sound more posh tend to pronounce things more fully

The very informal aspects of Chilean Spanish are associated with the working class, which is probably why it's considered impolite (or maybe uneducated is the better word? it's a class distinction) to use those kinds of pronunciations and vos but it does depend on the area

...

The other weird thing about Chilean Spanish, which is sometimes common in rioplatense Spanish outside of Argentina, is that sometimes people use vos forms with tú as a pronoun

You might see tú eres or tú eri... or tú vas or tú vai

-

And I don't know if it's a thing in Argentina but I see Chilean Spanish sometimes using double reflexive pronouns. I think the common example is that Chilean Spanish might say me voy a irme, where you would typically say/read me voy a ir or voy a irme

Sometimes translations write it a bit differently to imply it's a different and more informal or regional way of saying it; so I've seen me voy a irme get translated as "I'mma head out" or "I'm gonna go" - it's not a 1:1 translation but it does portray that it isn't technically considered "correct" but is understandable

-

The common expression that I had to learn to sort of make sense of it was Chile's ¿Cachai? which is "Got it?" or "Understand?" which is from cachar (in Latin America it's like "to catch" like, "Did you catch that?" both in physical grabbing and understanding, but it's less common outside of Latin America) - it can be used as a filler word, but it is literally like "right?" or "got it?" or "you know what I mean?"

The only other expression I know for Chilean Spanish is qué fome which is "how boring" - I think they still use that

There's more of a generational and class divide in Chile as far as Spanish expressions

In general though, Argentina's accent (and rioplatense in general?) sort of sounds Italian. The Chilean accent is... very hard to understand, there's a lot of unique grammar and the accent is like Italian but more rural to my ears, not in a bad way but to me it sounds like if you were speaking Spanish with a southern drawl almost

...

As far as general vocab, I think Argentina and Chile agree on a lot of the regional words like the word for "car" is el auto which is probably from many German immigrants, they use extrañar for "to miss someone" like most of Latin America

But I do know the one that trips me up constantly is "computer". Spain says el ordenador. Most of Latin America says la computadora. Chile says el computador

Some typical words you should maybe know for Chile:

fome = boring

guagua = baby [from Quechua, I think it's the sound of a baby crying; Caribbean countries sometimes use la guagua for "bus"]

pololo/a = boyfriend, girlfriend

el computador = computer

¿Cachai? = Got it? / Right? / Understand?

el cahuín = gossip [I think it originally meant "party/assembly" for the indigenous people, sort of like in American English you might hear "pow-wow"; but cahuín is when you get together and gossip, so it can also mean "shady business" or "intrigue" or "something sketchy"]

po = (generally means something affirmative; it comes from pues but po is used so often it's like "yup" or "uh huh" or "of course" but can show up at the end of practically any sentence)

hacer perro muerto = "to dine and dash", to eat at a restaurant without paying [lit. "to do a dead dog", the rest of Spanish tends to use hacer un simpá which is from sin pagar "without paying"]

weón / weona = dumbass / dude [informal way to address someone - sometimes an insult sometimes not, kind of impolite, comes from huevón "dumbass", again means "big balls" I think since it's "big egg" and los huevos are slang for testicles]

la wea = thing [it's really comparable to how some countries say la vaina for "thing" - it's informal, it's everywhere, and for some reason it sounds almost rude if you didn't know better]

...

And I know I said it already, but po. No, but seriously po is so Chilean I cannot stress this enough it's just an all around affirmative - I don't know if you can use po wrong, it just shows up at the end of sentences

Also I don't know if Argentina says it but I'm pretty sure Chile uses bacán as "cool" - if I remember right Argentina uses chévere

I think it's common in most of Spanish now, but particularly Argentina/Chile and rioplatense Spanish are known for using chao/chau as "goodbye" since it comes from Italian ciao; this is as opposed to something more formal like adiós or more Anglicized "bye"

Every so often you will hear tschuss or something equivalent in Argentina which is from German as well

Chile tends to share a lot of regionalisms with Peru and Colombia and generally it's like countries that are in the Andes or were connected to the Inca Empire or some of the indigenous tribes

Argentinian Spanish you should maybe know:

che = hey / bro (a go-to word like "hey"... it's a bit like the Chilean po but it usually calls attention to something or it's affirmative; can also be "bro/dude")

el pibe = boy la piba = girl

la mina = chick (usually a girl/woman you don't know the name of; it's not polite but it's not mean)

boludo/a = bro / dumbass, idiot [it can be an insult "has big balls", but it can also just be like... "bro" or "dude"]

And if I remember right the slang term for money here is la plata which is literally "silver"

The main thing about Argentina people talk about is the accent particularly with how they pronounce LL

Spain tends to pronounce LL as if it were LY with a bit of an L sound in there still... Latin America sometimes pronounces it like a full Y/I sound... parts of Central America give it a hard J sound

Argentina gives it a SH sound; so llamar or lluvia can sound like "shamar" or "shuvia" in Argentina

...

Also I think in Argentina you hear la remera for "t-shirt" [lit. "rowing shirt", from el remo "oar" or remar "to row" but sometimes remo "oar" can be "limb" on your body], and Chile says la polera which I think is from "polo shirt"

General Spanish will say la camiseta which is the diminutive of la camisa "shirt/chemise"; in textbooks they typically say la camisa is a "shirt with long sleeves" or a "dress shirt", and la camiseta is "a t-shirt" or informal shirt

And I'm not sure if they both say this, but it's my understanding that they use la frutilla for "strawberry" in rioplatense Spanish; usually it's la fresa

Mexico does this too if I remember right, although for them la fresa means "posh" or "snobby" like it's slang for a rich person or someone who acts fancy. I'm not sure if it also means that in Argentina and Chile

There are also different linguistic quirks of Argentina like lunfardo [regional Italian-inspired words, specifically from Lombardy], or vesre which is... I don't know I'd call it closer to Cockney where words are played with or backwards [revés "backwards/reverse" -> vesre]; like la mujer "woman" is sometimes jermu which is the same word just the syllables are backwards

...

And Chilean Spanish has been called the Quebecois of Spanish; similar enough but also very different and more irreverent in other ways... though to me I find it's probably closer to how English-speakers see Australian English, a little hard to follow sometimes and the accents are very much class-based, where there's a way to sound posh and a way to sound distinctively not posh

Argentina is more like if you had an Italian person speaking Spanish then sprinkled in a bit of German, lots of rising and falling tones, almost lyrical, sometimes like someone is speaking in very fast accent marks (both Spanish and Italian accent marks á then à, just so many rising and falling tones)

[chaifootsteps]

while it's nice to see Vivzie finally acknowledge Stella is worthy of pity 'in her own way' (something about the phrasing on that tweet rubs me the wrong way tbh, feels like they're implying her pain is like less important or valid or something? might just be me) it's kind of frustrating to see the end of the tweet say 'that doesn't absolve her of the pain she's caused', because like

I haven't seen many people making that argument, tbh?

like sure there are Stella stans who unironically say she was in the right to order a hit on him and it's fair retribution, but I don't think they're the majority

the majority of fans & former fans I've seen are just frustrated at how much of a caricature Stella is; as a portrait of an abuser she's incredibly poorly done and as an intended Hate Sink with no redeeming qualities she's frustrating because her backstory is just as tragic as Stolas', arguably more so because she has way less power & social mobility than him yet we're supposed to treat her like an irreedemable monster because the writers decided she was evil since birth.

I don't pity her because I like her or because I excuse anything she's said or done to Stolas. I pity her because I look at her backstory and can easily imagine how much of a nightmare her life is & how the fandom only ever seems to consider the 'arranged marriage' part of it and not the laundry list of other things that are awful about Stella's life. And I pity her because she reminds me of people IRL - mostly women - who are stuck in awful circumstances then are victimized twice by people who, if they even recognize the circumstances are bad, don't care about how that influences the person they currently are or why they behave in ways that seem inexplicable to us

for example the whole Stella likes throwing parties thing. we're obviously supposed to take it as a sign she's vapid and shallow, but what else is she supposed to do? at least if she throws parties misery can have company & her friends can visit. We see Stolas make fun of her for not knowing how to spell, but was she ever expected to be literate or allowed to have interests outside of raising a child she didn't want? the show just doesn't care to answer what society looks like for someone in her position. her interests only matter insofar as they provide a vector for the viewer to hate her some more

(going back to the recent discussions around MLP it's so noticeable they went out of their way to avoid 'stereotypical feminine interest = worthy of scorn' by having Rarity & Pinkie's interests be fashion and parties and the rest of the cast being chill about that even if they don't share that enthusiasm)

I know there are some proposed fix it scenarios in your inbox that often throw in 'and then Striker kills Stolas' as a closer but like even those don't sound like they approve of Stella or anything she does. far as I can tell they just hate Stolas and are tired of him because the show keeps insisting he's a perfect angel who never means to hurt anyone so that makes it OK. there's no chance of getting any catharsis seeing Blitzo or anyone else stand up to him, so we have to imagine it. It's even more galling considering Stella keeps most of her ire focused on Stolas whereas Stolas is exploiting and gaslighting a member of the lower classes. I mean at least Stella seems to have no delusions about who or what she is, she knows she's being awful and she revels in it. Stolas meanwhile is in total delusion about who he is and what he's done & the show is running out of chances to fix that

so like yeah, nothing Stella has suffered absolves her of her treatment of Stolas. But that exact logic applies to Stolas, too, yet the show wants us to show him more than pity - it expects us to like and empathize with him while he frees Blitzo from sexual slavery mainly because he feels entitled to love & affection that he's not getting and was never owed

That's what it boils down to, really. Stella's not allowed a free pass, while Stolas is allowed to hurt whoever he wants for any reason.

[goodlouse]

my thoughts on the two most recent games i've played (mouthwashing and silent hill 2 (2001)) which i've been thinking about alternately for the past few days for similar reasons

going to mention spoilers in here but this post will probably only be fully comprehensible to ppl who have experienced both games

not expecting many to read this but tumblr is quickly becoming my outlet for opinions that I can't rlly post on very public sites like tiktok where any criticism of a media means that I hate it and hate you for liking it. haterism be damned I actually got a net positive from playing both of these games!!

so I started playing silent hill 2 (original because I do not believe in/have the money to buy modern remakes) fresh off the back of silent hill 1 which is a game I REALLY enjoyed. I would EVEN say that sh1 is my number 1 cosiest game of the year.

sh2 is dirtier, bleaker and sleazier than sh1, and is lacking a lot of the occult aspects that I really liked. it's also like one of the most talked about games ever so like . i went into it with the knowledge of a few major plot beats and it took a long time playing to be able to take the game on its own terms.

i also took a little break halfway thru the game to stream mouthwashing for some curious friends. mouthwashing is a game thats very popular w streamers & youtubers and their audiences, so major plot points are also incredibly talked about. I mentioned this to a friend while setting up the game and he said I'll get something out of it anyway and then compared it to silent hill 2, which I kind of brushed off as a "psychological horror w unreliable narrator" thing (sorry choccy if you ever read this) but it turns out the two games are actually very similar in the way they draw my ire LOL

these things being: -sexual assault victim who doesn't have time in the plot to exist outside of her trauma. this is partially due to both plots being very tight and concise with no elements that don't serve a higher function BUT -this is then undermined by certain areas of gameplay dragging. for mouthwashing especially the last ~45 minutes felt very weirdly paced and unfortunately made me think of ppl who speedrun garten of banban in under 2hrs to get the steam refund, which resulted in later chapters being padded w drawn out segments.

The friends I was streaming for that have consumed more media than I have said that a lot of tropes in the game felt a bit derivative, but I don't know the things its deriding from BUT I wish mouthwashing would take more from the survival horrors its imitating in it's style. The gameplay between character interactions is limited to inputting codes you've read or corridors where there's only one correct route and everything else results in a reset - I think people that watched mouthwashing through a letsplayer might not truly get how understimulating that feels. Some more psychologically symbolic puzzles and riddles would not have gone amiss!

which brings me back around to silent hill 2, where I am legitimately just too stupid to do the 'collect and combine 3 items to progress' without a guide. because A) I don't intuitively clear out all rooms because I hate all combat encounters BECAUSE i am being too overly conservative with ammo so every enemy gets a fight to the death with melee weapons

i finished the game with a SURPLUS of ammo btw so that is partially on me for making myself struggle unnecessarily, but oh my goddd the prison/labyrinth section took so long!!

I also quite disliked eddie's plotline, which unfortunately literally just came down to his character design :/ his plot revolves around resentment over the way he's been treated for his appearance, but as a fat fuck myself my grievance was with the way he's been dressed by real world character designers that are falling on stereotypes. its juvenile in a way that betrays the subtlety of the rest of the game, and makes him seem infantile despite being so essential to james's arc. I genuinely think that a wardrobe change would have silenced my gut reaction of "what are they trying to say with this?", and its disappointing to see that the remake didn't take the opportunity when they did with maria

angela's plot was fascinating to me for depicting an abuse survivor with some imagery I've not really seen in other media! I think her character was written with a lot of respect, and her and eddie's plots feel like complimentary and cautionary tales to james, but it's very sad that ultimately her trauma was depicted as something that can't be lived with - this is something she shares with anya. I guess it's kind of disappointing that a womans struggle with sexual trauma ends in death in two games that are 20 years apart, I personally feel that theirs (and jimmy's suicide) is a bit of a tired trope

however. despite finishing extended periods of both sh2 and mouthwashing feeling annoyed and frustrated that they werent as tight as the rest of the game, but now that I've had days to process them my mind has been lingering on a few moments.

-pleasantly surprised by how legitimately startling pyramid heads introduction, really good use of unsettling imagery -sh's soundtracks always hit at the moments it counts -the last hour of sh2 had me in tears, mary's letter was bittersweet and I love how the tone completely changes depending on the ending. as someone that likes the occult stuff in the other sh games I loooove the implications of the rebirth ending but I appreciate it seems a bit left field in this standalone plot

-jim & curly's ladder conversation in the cockpit, I think that one stuck with me especially as the one defining moment in both of their outlooks, the wealth and status inequality that still leaves both of them wanting more out of their lives.. the guilt and resentment that can come of circumstantial success etc etc -similarly the dead pixel convo -swansea's honest monologue -the glitch effect after anya's suicide was REALLY cool visually, it felt like the one defining moment where mouthwashing really took advantage of its medium

TLDR I feel like I learned a bit about what I like and dislike in psychological horror by playing these two side by side, defintely interesting research while I'm drafting a horror comic with a dreamlike atmosphere... :)

[llyfrenfys]

Very much off topic but it has occurred to me that the half-life of intergenerational discourse has shortened considerably over the last few years.

I made a post not too long ago where I was surprised Gen Z was redefined as 1996-2009 (or any such similar range) and I've been thinking about it- and the more I do the more I'm sure of one thing:

Gen Z and Alpha are being exposed to more ire at their existence at much younger ages and much faster than Millenials did from their elders.

When the whole "Blame Millenials for everything" era was in full swing, the vast majority of Millenials were adults (the fact Millenials were adults and not children was a pretty big part of the backlash against the ire). All the "avocado toast rhetoric" peaked when most Millenials were adults.

But Gen Z (my apparent generation) is half adults, half minors at the time of writing. I was born in 2000, I'm 23. But Gen Z kids born after 2005 aren't adults yet. So all of the current doomerism about our generation is annoying for me, but must be so demoralising if you're born after 2005. Like, I can't escape the feeling current generation discourse has given up on finding hope in late Gen Zers. It doesn't seem to know how to categorise early Gen Zers. We straddle Millenial and typical Gen Z experiences and so kinda get the worst ire from both.

Not to mention I've recently seen a whole lot of ire directed at Gen Alpha. C'mon these are literal children now being roped into generation discourse about how they're apparently hopeless or ipad babies.

It was one thing for Millenials to deal with this as adults. It's annoying as fuck for me to deal with it now as an adult. But I worry so much for younger Gen Zers and Gen Alpha who have to bear the brunt of grown ass adults using generations like they're star signs. If you find yourself saying "Gen Z/Alpha are so doomed lol" genuinely take a look at yourself and remind yourself you're talking about literal children. Especially if you're a Milennial yourself who went through the banality of being shit on by every generation preceeding.

It's so easy to not be a dick, yknow?

[khaosrealms]

Im literally vibrating in my chair please a part two of that Syzoth fic please I need them interacting more ♥️♥️

LACERTA’S GEM. (PART TWO!) / SYZOTH X PRINCESS! READER.

a/n: it brings me nothing but joy to know you enjoyed the first part! i am happy to please— so of course, here is your part two! 💚

- After your second encounter with Syzoth, it wasn’t long until you made acquaintance with one another soon after. Returning to the stage, chin held high and hands tucked behind you with excitement, only to see your dear sister Kitana on the floor and Tanya engaged in kombat with the very man you’d just let go. Thinking nothing of the possibility that this might be the reason for his flighty disposition. Your heart sinking to the bottom of your stomach as you ran to your older sister’s side, inspecting for newfound bruises or cuts. But nothing— dull hits, nothing but enough to deter her from continuing a fight. Whatever it was Syzoth was doing, it wasn’t in the name of hurting your family.

- From that point onwards, it was all about picking the pieces of whatever the hell was going on. Betrayal from General Shao and Shang Tsung, allyship with mortals from Earthrealm, and— the small increments of time you’d begun to find with Syzoth. Assisting where the battle might require you; during the silent period before the execution of a plan, that’s where he spoke most with you. Hesitantly, at first, for you were positive he believed you held some ire for him that day at the festival stage. Ashamed, from the way he spoke to the way he’d bent his head.

“Princess, if I may?” You never enjoyed it, that fervent necessity those who knew of your place in Outworld had to being near your presence. If I may, with all due respect, if you’ll excuse me, even here, far from your mother’s court, overseeing what would soon be a battlefield, that courtesy did not leave. So you do not answer, rather, you wait— and slowly, you can see the hesitation drip in and drip out from Syzoth’s disposition. Carrying him to a seat a slight ways beside you. Hands folded between his thighs, holding words between his lips that remain knotted there before finally releasing; an undertone of hesitation throughout. “Am I disrupting your peace?” You almost want to chuckle, if it didn’t seem it’d rattle the Zaterran beyond your desire.

“You are not.” Short, to tug him towards continuing, and enough to make his shoulders loosen. “I’m simply thinking, Syzoth. Why do you ask?” You’d spend a majority of the time from the days since avoiding his gaze, not of wrath, but almost— out of hesitation. Hesitation to accept his role in all this, hesitation, knowing the man who your mother, the Empress, took council from was the very man who enslaved him. “I’m afraid I may have soiled what.. little fate you had of me when we had met, that day of the festival.” Ah yes, that day. How could you have possibly forgotten? The day a shapeshifting Zaterran nearly conquered Outworld itself. He can’t help but shift when you chuckle at his words, nervous, perhaps— but less so when you turn to look at him, finally, and a small smile sits there on your lips.

“You had your reasons, Syzoth, I know of that now. And my dear sister forgives you, so why too shouldn’t I?” You wouldn’t admit that there’s a part of you that stirs when Syzoth finally allows himself to smile. A swirling of something warm in your chest as he breathes a sigh of relief, the dark circles beneath his eyes creasing with his grin. “That brings me more solace than you could imagine, Princess.” And to you, as well, simply seeing how much the assurance placed him at ease. “Perhaps then, we could.. speak to one another? Pass the time?”

- You’d discover more and more of Syzoth as the time continued to pass. His life as a Zaterran, his isolation due to his abilities, his family, now lost, the simple pleasures he enjoy in life, and him, of you. Your life as the youngest daughter of Empress Sindel, the isolation due to your royal status, your family, forever by your side. Opposite reflections of one another, a kind of magnetism in knowing just how different you were from one another. And even though your sister Mileena had teased you, asking if you’d planned to make a Zeterran a part of the royal lineage, you continued to make his company. Waiting, during the moments of silence, for Syzoth to appear. At times, in his true form, where you’d request time to admire, and at times, in his shifted form, where you’d find yourself chuckling at the true parts of him that’d peek through to his human body.

- When the titan Shang Tsung is defeated, there’s a peace that finally falls over Outerworld. Like a taut rubber band being reeled back. The first person you celebrate with, barring your own blood, is Syzoth. Looking for him, perhaps without even realizing, amongst the crowd of those who had remained; and there he was, looking back at you, relief painted in his eyes like two emeralds. You hadn’t planned on hugging him when you raced to him, but fueled purely with adrenaline, you embrace him, ignoring the gazes of those watching with quiet shock. His hands stuck to his side before they find themselves wrapped around your waist, clutching, as if it had been years since another soul dared hold him. Better you ignore the sound of Johnny cooing tediously.

“Are you alright, Syzoth?” “I am unhurt, Princess. And you?” “A few bruises, but nothing I cannot withstand.” He smelled of blood and sweat, and his face, caked in dirt, flushed a dark, leafy green. You’d never met a man who’d blushed with such a hue. You never would meet anyone again like Syzoth, and the thought made your heart thump anxiously in your chest. Even as you parted, clearing your throat as you returned your hands to yourself. “What will you do now, now that you are free again?” The thought seems to paralyze him. A fugitive of Outworld, a freak to his people, perhaps he hadn’t thought of anything but simply making it through the battle alive. “I do not know, Princess. Truthfully.” He muttered, hands clasped in front of him. Tensing, flexing, as if somehow the answer would squeeze out from between his fingers.

Instead, you offer. Your hand gently resting atop his, colder than you’d expected, but stiff no longer. “I’m sure my sister Mileena would be delighted to have you amongst her confidants as the new Empress.” There again, that glimmer of hope in his eyes, and there once more, that warmth, bubbling in your chest. You cannot help but smile at the sight of it. “I can be very convincing when it comes to the things I want.” Of him being apart of her court, of course, but it doesn’t stop the true intentions behind your words from slipping past. A rush of red splayed over your cheeks that Syzoth notices with ease. Greeted by his own visage, hints of green coming to his ears. “An enticing offer, Princess.” Sly Zaterran. “Enticing enough to say yes?” You’d be crushed if the answer was anything but. Yet, with simply one look, Syzoth’s smile is enough to tell you his answer. “The first Zaterran among the Empress’ court. It certainly would be something, wouldn’t it?”