Emotion Infusion, which is apparently a combination of “ability to enchant weapons”, “innate energy weapon”, and “ability to alter others’ emotions”.
I suppose that if this were fiction, the character archetype I’d be shoehorned into is “well-intentioned extremist trying to wirehead the world”. In reality, I don’t think I would go that far, although I could maybe hook up @wirehead-wannabe. (And you never know when an energy weapon will come in handy, even if I might very well end up reflexively stunning someone who startles me with a blast of paralysing terror. Oops.)
I wasn’t going to reblog this, but it’s the first tag-yourself meme I’ve seen that’s actually accurate. (Which is saying something, considering how many tag-yourself memes I’ve seen.)
Tags:
#lawful/neutral ace #I have no idea where I would even *get* flamingo feathers but other than that #asexuality #meme #there is probably some warning tag I should put on this but I am not sure what #homophobia?
In Life’s name, and for Life’s sake, I say that I will use the Art for nothing but the service of that Life. I will guard growth and ease pain. I will fight to preserve what grows and lives well in its own way; and I will change no object or creature unless its growth and life, or that of the system in which it is part, are threatened. To these ends, in the practice of my Art, I will put aside fear for courage, and death for life, when it is right to do so—till Universe’s end.
The Wizard’s Oath, So You Want to Be a Wizard. Diane Duane.
I bet you every kid who’s ever read this book stood in the middle of their room, paused, took a breath, and then read this part out loud. Just in case. I vaguely remember what that moment felt like, feeling a little silly but a little apprehensive too. Probably similar to how kids in the late 90s and earlier 2000s felt when their 11th birthdays came and they secretly all waited for the letter from Hogwarts.
This post brought to you by my currently reading the New Millenium Edition of So You Want to Be a Wizard and enjoying myself immensely. I have the old edition open so I can go back and refer to it when I think I spot a change. I was a little sad to see that Kit’s first ever line of dialogue in the book is no longer “balls.” Balls are always funnier than not balls.
I, too, avoided reciting the Wizard’s Oath specifically because of “just in case”. I make no oaths lightly; I make no oaths I am unsure whether I would even want to uphold, let alone whether I could; I make no oaths that would be enforced by the same entities that enforced Nita’s oath regarding the Song of the Twelve, despite the fact that she did not give informed consent.
(The Sea fed the words of the oath into her mind. It could have fed her what they meant. But no, she recited the words in ignorance of the full nature of what they entailed, and everyone, including Nita herself, blamed her for not realising she needed to do more research.
(And since the Sea is an alternate form of the wizard’s manual, explicitly asking the Sea to feed her the meaning (or a manual-based equivalent action) would be the research she would do. Whenever conversations of the form “You didn’t tell me that!” “You didn’t ask.” happen, we generally conclude that the “You didn’t ask” person is a pedantic asshole trying to obey the letter of what is right while subverting the spirit. Yet this is pretty much what happens, and nobody seems to have any issue with it.))
Tags:
#also #*given* that Nita has ended up in this situation #going through with the Twelvesong is not a noble sacrifice #because you see #if she doesn’t do it they wipe large chunks of her memory #and if she does do it she goes to heaven #this is one of those edge cases #where *strictly in terms of maximising self-preservation* #it is actually better to commit suicide than to not commit suicide #(once your continued existence is assured the next thing on the self-preservation list is preserving your memories) #as you can see I have Issues with that book #Young Wizards #rants
Is “identifying foreign words by phoneme cluster” a thing that many/most people have trouble with? It’s something I’ve been instinctively able to do for as long as I can remember, but quite a few people have told me lately what an uncanny ability it is.
I’ve studied only a couple of foreign languages, and both of them were Romance-based. I pick up languages and grammatical rules very quickly, though. Even when I don’t understand the language being used, I can almost always pick out which language it is, or at least which language family.
This comes so naturally to me that I’ve never thought of it as weird, but recently people have been downright awed that I can, say, pick out the Thai dishes from the Vietnamese ones on a pan-Asian menu. Even though Thai and Vietnamese have totally different phonemic structures! It’s not that hard! People are often frequently baffled when I identify someone’s ethnic extraction by their surname, which, like – I dunno, all I can say is it’s not that hard!
I swear this isn’t me humblebragging – I am legitimately confused that this does not seem to be a common thing.
I too do the thing. I always figured most people’s lack of ability to do the thing was primarily related to most people’s disinterest in learning even the tiniest bit of foreign languages unless the language in question is going to be directly useful to them in a way they can quantify. But also I’m hyperlexic so, maybe that’s a factor too.
In my case people have more frequently expressed surprise at my ability to pronounce surnames, but that’s directly tied to recognizing their derivation – when you know what language a name derives from, and have a vague idea of the pronunciation rules of that language, it’s generally not too hard to at least come really close to correct pronunciation of the name.
Hyperlexia nation checking in! @ozymandias271 is the only other hyperlexic I know off the top of my head; do they also do the thing?
Same re: pronunciation. Weirdly enough, though, that often leads to me pronouncing it incorrectly, or at least what the person in question considers incorrectly. French names are very common where I live, but most of them have been Anglicized to the point where the original pronunciation becomes wrong.
I’m hyperlexic and okay but not great at this? (I can’t distinguish Swedish and Norwegian, and I can tell the difference between Korean and {Chinese, Japanese} but I can’t tell Chinese and Japanese apart, etc.)
I am pretty good at doing the thing, because I pick up linguistics rules really easily. (My project for the past two days has been teaching myself the grammar of Classical Sanskrit (hence the Bhagavad-Gita blogging), which I expect to take about a week to get mostly-down. I’m not planning to memorise Panini’s entire generative grammar, though.)
However, I am really awful at remembering vocabulary, which is why I’m monolingual. Give me the words, and I’ll successfully make sentences in half a dozen languages. If I’m allowed to make the sentences really simple, I could probably do two dozen languages. However, expecting me to remember any of those words the next day is a lost cause.
Despite hyperlexia, I’m not all that good at distinguishing languages by phoneme usage.
I’m a lot better at picking up vocabulary than grammar. I mentioned “read[ing] okay Packaging French, but don’t expect me to write it” recently: when presented with an everyday French sentence of the sort one might see on a sign or a bag of food, there’s a fair chance I’ll be able to work out the gist of it. If you ask me what the French word for [insert thing here] is, a significant-though-still-fairly-small amount of the time I will be able to answer. (As long as I am allowed to submit my answer in writing.) I cannot predict the grammatical structure of a sentence that isn’t currently staring me in the face, and I might not recognise it in a sentence that is currently staring me in the face.
Ingredient lists, which have almost no grammar and consist mostly or entirely of terms that any Canadian who doesn’t grow all their own food would be naturally exposed to†, are easiest. I am frequently able to read entire French ingredient lists without any guessing at all.
(One time, I actually understood the French side of the package better than the English.
Me, in grocery store: *looks at chocolate bar*
Me: “Chocolate with marzipan”. What is marzipan, anyway?
Me: *reads French side* “Chocolate with almond paste”. Oh.)
†Though I can’t promise how much attention other people pay.
Tags:
#combine me and Alison and you get someone who almost knows what they’re doing #language #reply via reblog #food mention #our home and cherished land
So, I think I might actually start a secondary blog about some of the things that have been getting discussed this weekend. I think it’s a topic worth being openly talked about, and I think it would be good to have a space specifically for that, so that people can stop worrying if what they’re talking about is appropriate and just say what they have to say.
(I also think it would be good to get the conversation off my main blog, because while I find it interesting, I’m sure it’s making a number of my followers uncomfortable.)
A couple of thoughts:
For aces, by aces, about aces.
Topics would definitely include masturbation/sex toys, including reviews/how-tos.
Additional topics can potentially include BDSM gear, partnered activities, talking about porn/erotic materials, and general sexual health/sex ed/anatomy, etc. Basically anything ace people are curious about or want to discuss, but don’t feel comfortable doing it in regular ace circles. Any other topics that should be explicitly called out?
Matter of fact and open, with a sense of “Yes, this is normal, yes, it’s okay to feel like that, it’s okay to do this” in most answers. Non-judgmental and inclusive (at least inclusive of ace-ID’d people).
Clinical where it needs to be, fun where it needs to be.
Deliberately not wankfodder. This isn’t Letters to Penthouse.
Open to questions from non-ace people about ace people, within limits. This will attempt to be a safe space for aces (at least as much as it can be on this site), so anyone disrespectful, etc., will be shown the door.
Anon submissions/asks would be on. 18+
Toy pictures allowed (including anatomically accurate models), but images of toy usage/porn not allowed (including pornographic images on packaging). Maybe use another toy as a demonstration stand in?
Maybe a discussion prompt once in a while?
I would probably need co-moderators. Any volunteers?
A couple of concerns:
As I’ve learned from my “An Asexual’s Guide To …” series, any time someone talks about topics like this, you will get a lot of non-ace people wandering by and offering their, um, “thoughts”.
I’d like it to be findable by aces who are interested in it, but I don’t want to be intrusive to those who are not. Are there good ways to do this?
So there it is. Thoughts?
I’d probably read it. I might participate, depending on which topics and how far the inclusivity goes. (When it comes to conversations about sex, I always feel like I’m being Too Weird and making people uncomfortable, even in places with relatively high Weird levels. The only place I didn’t feel like I was being intrusive was Ace Fet, which vanished off the face of the Internet a couple years ago without a trace.)
I think some sort of “Safe, Legal, Respectful” principle might be a good guideline as to what’s allowed. (Although, strictly speaking, “Legal” would probably be a bit flexible, as there are some places that outlaw the sale of “any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs”, for instance. Not to mention the countries that still have enforceable sodomy laws. Things like that.) And maybe a “Don’t yuck my yum” principle. (The big problem is that you can’t control the audience response on Tumblr. You can encourage and cultivate the first readers to be respectful, but after that, the “Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory” applies. And I don’t know how to fix that.)
I think, in general, that this place would have to work against the idea that something is “weird” or “icky” or whatever. I mean, for many people, masturbation itself is too icky to talk about. Many people think sex toys are weird. And that’s okay. What’s not okay is turning that “This is not for me” into “No, you can’t have it either”. If it’s not your thing, skip to the next post. If none of the posts are your thing, unfollow or even block.
I think it would be good to have some of those “Too Weird” things talked about in a place that’s a safe environment, presented in a way that says “This is out there. If you’re interested, great. If not, maybe the next topic will be more your style.” Sort of like a sexualized asexual 60 Minutes. (If that makes any sense.)
“good idea, but what part about this is 18+??? if there’s going to be a large piece of sexual health and sex ed happening, i think it would be most effective if it’s safe for minors, the people who would be most in need of sex ed? i think? i’m not sure what you meant by 18+ but that sounds like the worst idea, the rest sounds pretty great”
Okay, so I was angry about this at first, but upon reflection I think it simply demonstrates a rift in people’s understanding of what this project is supposed to do.
See, sex ed is broad. It deals in generalities: it can, say, tell you that pornography is a thing that exists, but it won’t recommend specific pieces of erotica. (And indeed, any sex ed trying to be available to minors wouldn’t dare make such recommendations.)
I know many people who advocate for “inclusive” sex ed, but there is no such thing. Don’t get me wrong, some sex ed is less exclusive than others, but every sex education resource has to draw the line somewhere. They might discuss only the most common form of sexuality, or the top two, or the top several, but people with rare manifestations of sexuality will always be sacrificed on the altar of the greatest good for the greatest number.
I can’t contribute to a sex ed blog. When it comes to sex education, I am not and never will be a participant: I’m collateral damage. And maybe that’s worth it, but that is the price you’d be paying if you go the sex ed route.
I, on the other hand, interpreted this idea as being about a space for asexuals to discuss their sexualities. (I was going to say “the presences, rather than the absences”, but apparently some people conceive of their asexuality as a presence?) Such a space is not inherently exclusive of me. The risk is high, as I mentioned in my previous post on this reblog chain, but it could have a place for me.
@katakacat, tagging you to make sure you get the whole post. I didn’t want to add this as an edit because then people who have already read the original might miss it.
I swear I’m going back to studying after this, but it occurred to me I didn’t make it all that clear why the non-18+ thing in particular bothered me.
IME, obscenity rules are enforced more strictly the weirder you are. Something can be considered fine when a vanilla person says it, but someone saying the analogous thing about a kink gets smacked down as inappropriate.
At my level of out-there, there is very little I would dare say in an environment trying to be safe for minors. Almost any statement, no matter how innocuous the normal-person analogue would be, risks censure and penalties.
Tags:
#reply via reblog #sexuality and lack thereof #asexuality #oh look an update #I hope I haven’t crossposted
So, I think I might actually start a secondary blog about some of the things that have been getting discussed this weekend. I think it’s a topic worth being openly talked about, and I think it would be good to have a space specifically for that, so that people can stop worrying if what they’re talking about is appropriate and just say what they have to say.
(I also think it would be good to get the conversation off my main blog, because while I find it interesting, I’m sure it’s making a number of my followers uncomfortable.)
A couple of thoughts:
For aces, by aces, about aces.
Topics would definitely include masturbation/sex toys, including reviews/how-tos.
Additional topics can potentially include BDSM gear, partnered activities, talking about porn/erotic materials, and general sexual health/sex ed/anatomy, etc. Basically anything ace people are curious about or want to discuss, but don’t feel comfortable doing it in regular ace circles. Any other topics that should be explicitly called out?
Matter of fact and open, with a sense of “Yes, this is normal, yes, it’s okay to feel like that, it’s okay to do this” in most answers. Non-judgmental and inclusive (at least inclusive of ace-ID’d people).
Clinical where it needs to be, fun where it needs to be.
Deliberately not wankfodder. This isn’t Letters to Penthouse.
Open to questions from non-ace people about ace people, within limits. This will attempt to be a safe space for aces (at least as much as it can be on this site), so anyone disrespectful, etc., will be shown the door.
Anon submissions/asks would be on. 18+
Toy pictures allowed (including anatomically accurate models), but images of toy usage/porn not allowed (including pornographic images on packaging). Maybe use another toy as a demonstration stand in?
Maybe a discussion prompt once in a while?
I would probably need co-moderators. Any volunteers?
A couple of concerns:
As I’ve learned from my “An Asexual’s Guide To …” series, any time someone talks about topics like this, you will get a lot of non-ace people wandering by and offering their, um, “thoughts”.
I’d like it to be findable by aces who are interested in it, but I don’t want to be intrusive to those who are not. Are there good ways to do this?
So there it is. Thoughts?
I’d probably read it. I might participate, depending on which topics and how far the inclusivity goes. (When it comes to conversations about sex, I always feel like I’m being Too Weird and making people uncomfortable, even in places with relatively high Weird levels. The only place I didn’t feel like I was being intrusive was Ace Fet, which vanished off the face of the Internet a couple years ago without a trace.)
I think some sort of “Safe, Legal, Respectful” principle might be a good guideline as to what’s allowed. (Although, strictly speaking, “Legal” would probably be a bit flexible, as there are some places that outlaw the sale of “any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs”, for instance. Not to mention the countries that still have enforceable sodomy laws. Things like that.) And maybe a “Don’t yuck my yum” principle. (The big problem is that you can’t control the audience response on Tumblr. You can encourage and cultivate the first readers to be respectful, but after that, the “Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory” applies. And I don’t know how to fix that.)
I think, in general, that this place would have to work against the idea that something is “weird” or “icky” or whatever. I mean, for many people, masturbation itself is too icky to talk about. Many people think sex toys are weird. And that’s okay. What’s not okay is turning that “This is not for me” into “No, you can’t have it either”. If it’s not your thing, skip to the next post. If none of the posts are your thing, unfollow or even block.
I think it would be good to have some of those “Too Weird” things talked about in a place that’s a safe environment, presented in a way that says “This is out there. If you’re interested, great. If not, maybe the next topic will be more your style.” Sort of like a sexualized asexual 60 Minutes. (If that makes any sense.)
“good idea, but what part about this is 18+??? if there’s going to be a large piece of sexual health and sex ed happening, i think it would be most effective if it’s safe for minors, the people who would be most in need of sex ed? i think? i’m not sure what you meant by 18+ but that sounds like the worst idea, the rest sounds pretty great”
Okay, so I was angry about this at first, but upon reflection I think it simply demonstrates a rift in people’s understanding of what this project is supposed to do.
See, sex ed is broad. It deals in generalities: it can, say, tell you that pornography is a thing that exists, but it won’t recommend specific pieces of erotica. (And indeed, any sex ed trying to be available to minors wouldn’t dare make such recommendations.)
I know many people who advocate for “inclusive” sex ed, but there is no such thing. Don’t get me wrong, some sex ed is less exclusive than others, but every sex education resource has to draw the line somewhere. They might discuss only the most common form of sexuality, or the top two, or the top several, but people with rare manifestations of sexuality will always be sacrificed on the altar of the greatest good for the greatest number.
I can’t contribute to a sex ed blog. When it comes to sex education, I am not and never will be a participant: I’m collateral damage. And maybe that’s worth it, but that is the price you’d be paying if you go the sex ed route.
I, on the other hand, interpreted this idea as being about a space for asexuals to discuss their sexualities. (I was going to say “the presences, rather than the absences”, but apparently some people conceive of their asexuality as a presence?) Such a space is not inherently exclusive of me. The risk is high, as I mentioned in my previous post on this reblog chain, but it could have a place for me.
So, I think I might actually start a secondary blog about some of the things that have been getting discussed this weekend. I think it’s a topic worth being openly talked about, and I think it would be good to have a space specifically for that, so that people can stop worrying if what they’re talking about is appropriate and just say what they have to say.
(I also think it would be good to get the conversation off my main blog, because while I find it interesting, I’m sure it’s making a number of my followers uncomfortable.)
A couple of thoughts:
For aces, by aces, about aces.
Topics would definitely include masturbation/sex toys, including reviews/how-tos.
Additional topics can potentially include BDSM gear, partnered activities, talking about porn/erotic materials, and general sexual health/sex ed/anatomy, etc. Basically anything ace people are curious about or want to discuss, but don’t feel comfortable doing it in regular ace circles. Any other topics that should be explicitly called out?
Matter of fact and open, with a sense of “Yes, this is normal, yes, it’s okay to feel like that, it’s okay to do this” in most answers. Non-judgmental and inclusive (at least inclusive of ace-ID’d people).
Clinical where it needs to be, fun where it needs to be.
Deliberately not wankfodder. This isn’t Letters to Penthouse.
Open to questions from non-ace people about ace people, within limits. This will attempt to be a safe space for aces (at least as much as it can be on this site), so anyone disrespectful, etc., will be shown the door.
Anon submissions/asks would be on. 18+
Toy pictures allowed (including anatomically accurate models), but images of toy usage/porn not allowed (including pornographic images on packaging). Maybe use another toy as a demonstration stand in?
Maybe a discussion prompt once in a while?
I would probably need co-moderators. Any volunteers?
A couple of concerns:
As I’ve learned from my “An Asexual’s Guide To …” series, any time someone talks about topics like this, you will get a lot of non-ace people wandering by and offering their, um, “thoughts”.
I’d like it to be findable by aces who are interested in it, but I don’t want to be intrusive to those who are not. Are there good ways to do this?
So there it is. Thoughts?
I’d probably read it. I might participate, depending on which topics and how far the inclusivity goes. (When it comes to conversations about sex, I always feel like I’m being Too Weird and making people uncomfortable, even in places with relatively high Weird levels. The only place I didn’t feel like I was being intrusive was Ace Fet, which vanished off the face of the Internet a couple years ago without a trace.)
Tags:
#sexuality and lack thereof #reply via reblog #asexuality
So I haven’t thought about it in AGES, but did anyone else grow up with Muse Magazine? That there was, like, a fundamental part of my childhood.
I did! It was good. Also Odyssey and Cricket and other stuff by the same people.
Yes! Muse was great. I still have a bookshelf full of back issues I saved over the years.
These days I use Daily Planet and science blogs to scratch that itch, since they’re a lot cheaper, but still.
(One time I sent a letter, and they actually published it in the “letters to the editor” section. I was very surprised and kind of weirded out: all I really did was complain about [minor error redacted]*, why would they bother publishing that? My parents were so proud and showed it to everyone we knew, and it was embarrassing.)
*I’m tempted to be more specific about it and just figure that anyone who manages to work out my name given only that information is welcome to it, but nah.
Tags:
#reply via reblog #Muse #my childhood #the power of science
i saw this on FB and wondered if i made him a pot of rice that had sautéed onions in a satchel in with it as it boiled and then removed before serving, whether he would prefer that or plain rice? or if i caramelized onion and put it in a broth and then puréed it to an even texture, would he prefer that or plain broth? like, is it *pieces* of onion that are the problem? is it a textural thing? or is it actually onion flavor? and if it’s onion flavor, it it *raw* onion flavor, or is fully cooked onion flavor a problem as well?
like onions are one of the most flavorful things you can add to a food and i wonder if he realizes how much of the flavor of many foods is from onion, and i wonder if he would actually prefer those foods without the onion
there was a running joke in Volterra because any time someone was cooking something and it smelled good, it turned out all they had done was sauté some onions
Good to see Eliezer remains Objectively Correct once again
*onion-hater fistbump*
The flavour of cooked/powdered onion is okay, I guess, but onion texture is terrible and the pain component of raw onion is, well, painful. (I am possibly the least masochistic person on the planet and do not enjoy spicy food/horror/alcohol either.)
(I do like garlic, though.)
Tags:
#long post #food #reply via reblog #it does kind of bother me when people are all ”masochism is normal! look at these painful things you like!” #and I’m all ”but I don’t like those things” #”look go ahead and Explore the Darkness in the Human Psyche or whatever but that doesn’t mean *I* want to” #(note that this *doesn’t* mean I like over-the-top happy things) #(things that are *too* happy wrap around into being painful) #(so I have to balance it)
every time i share a bed w someone i realise that this is what married life is gonna be like and suddenly im happy with staying single for the rest of my life
There’s actually some important differences. Sharing a bed with a spouse often involves a lot more cuddling and also sex with someone you are comfortable with and love.
Like, I am happily married and enjoy sharing the bed (though it is problematic in some ways, it not being enjoyable is not one of them, despite the bed being small). I enjoy it entirely because I like the person I am sharing it with. It doesn’t make much sense to compare sharing the bed with a stranger to that, since strangers tend to make people a lot more uncomfortable than spouses do.
Who you do the thing with makes almost all of the difference.
I would guess that married couples also don’t have to scrupulously avoid physical contact while sleeping? Also two of my relatives just put two beds right next to each other.
…wait, who said anything about strangers and scrupulous avoidance of physical contact? When I was nodding along with OP, I was thinking of sharing a bed with my parents and later my brother. (Especially my parents, because I was in the middle between them, which meant no matter which way I turned I had somebody’s breath or sweat in my face.) Nightlights that were too bright, body heat that was too warm, people waking each other up on their way to the bathroom, and the snoring. Oh god, the snoring. We can’t stay in a one-room hotel because I can’t sleep in the same room as my mother, let alone the same bed. Even to this day, when I am down the hall with a humidifier/white-noise-machine running, occasionally she’s still too loud.
(Did you know it’s possible to routinely take less than two hours to get to sleep? Ten-year-old me did not know that. (Ten-year-old me actually fought sleeping separately, because better the devil you know.) AFAICT, kid!me’s insomnia was not an internal issue, but entirely due to ill-suited sleeping environment.)
…yeah, I really like sleeping alone.
Tags:
#yes I have tried earplugs on those fortunately-now-rare occasions when I must share a bedroom with my mother #turns out earplugs give me nightmares #specifically false-awakening nightmares in which I remove the earplugs and find my ears are still clogged #(given that I was prone to clogged ears as a kid) #(and was always scared that one day I might get them in both ears simultaneously and be nearly deaf for ~3 weeks) #(*and* ear clogs *were* often triggered by plugging my ears) #(I suppose it’s really not surprising that my subconscious takes earplugs badly) #reply via reblog
Brinens and Things - Tumblr Mirror 