reply via reblog

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

justice-turtle:

Quick reminder that Flight Rising’s one-day registration window opens in about fifteen minutes! (Half past 1pm GMT.)

I’d write a longer post about why it’s a really cool site and you should join ^_^ but I’m currently super focused on pokemon-battling a group of my dragons up to max level so that I can help out my not!Hogwarts House in a friendly-but-intense competition tussle thing we’ve got going on with another House this week. (They’re called Flights. Because dragons.)

So I’ll just drop this fact here: when my Flight did an informal Gdocs survey of people’s demographics after the November reg window when I joined, like 18% of us were nonbinary. Also there was an option for nonbinary gender. :D *shrugs* I can’t speak for other Flights, but Lightning is some damn cool people if you’re into spreadsheets. :D

Ooh. *wanders over to website*

…wow. I have not seen that much impenetrable game-jargon in one place in quite some time. Not that I’m saying Flight Rising is unusually bad, mind you. I’m sure the Runescape home page I looked at this morning would seem just as impenetrable to the untrained eye, but I have eleven years’ experience speaking Gielinorian and it comes as naturally to me now as standard English. It’s been a while since the last time I had to learn a new game language.

Well, you’ve only been playing for what, a month? And you seem to be reasonably fluent already. I’m sure I can cope.

I’m confident that potential near-future me who already has a decent grasp on Flight Rising would like to hear your explanation of why it’s awesome almost as much as I do. Maybe when you’re less busy.

I was about to say I’m not into spreadsheets, but then I remembered the time I charted my menstrual cycles for six months out of sheer curiosity. And the time, eleven years ago, that I read the entire guide section of the Runescape website before even making an account. (The guide section is much, much bigger now. A modern-day newbie could never hope to do the same.) And how, though I enjoyed playing Nethack, I enjoyed reading about it even more. (The so-called “bachelor’s degree” aspect of Nethack, in which you must study all the obscure intricacies of the game in order to do well, puts a lot of people off. I really liked it, that there were entire long guides devoted just to, say, Altars and You.) I suspect I probably am what you’re calling “into spreadsheets”, and just don’t think of it in the same terms. Feel free to correct me if I’ve misinterpreted you.

Tags:

#Flight Rising #reply via reblog

~ Brin ~ 2 Comments

straighttohelvetica:

Easily the most horrifying line of dialogue I’ve ever heard in an animated movie.

 

castielsunderpants:

NO BUT THIS WAS SUCH A GOOD GODDAMN MOVIE LIKE THE MUSIC IS FUN AND SUPERB THE CHARACTERS WERE REAL PEOPLE EVEN THE ANTAGONISTS THE WOMEN WERE GREAT IT WAS ALL GREAT. IT DOESNT MATTER IF YOURE JEWISH, CHRISTIAN, MUSLIM, ATHEIST, WHATEVER ELSE IT DOESNT MATTER ITS SUCH A GOOD MOVIE AND ITS LITERALLY ONLY 90 MINUTES OF YOUR DAY AND EXPERIENCE THIS HERE JUST CLICK IT LITERALLY IT WILL OPEN IN A NEW TAB GO WATCH. 

 

fifty-shadesofgay:

also can we point out that none of the characters were white? like damn accurate depictions of Biblical characters

 

riskpig:

I reblog every time Prince of Egypt comes up because holy fuck this movie is so good.

 

theparadoxymoron:

first movie i ever saw in theaters

 

comparativelysuperlative:

First movie I ever saw in theaters too! That’s probably not coincidence!

But, like, this line is part of why I grew up thinking utilitarians are monsters. And I mean that in the “check under the bed” sense—there are people who will do literally anything (depending on the circumstances) and not care if the Bible says it’s evil! And they might be coming for you!

And now of course I’m a utilitarian, and so are a lot of the people I think of as doing the most good. Turns out that genocide against a bunch of babies? Not actually a fair portrayal of people doing things for the greater good.

Also, I recognised this gifset as being from Prince of Egypt (through cultural osmosis; haven’t actually seen the movie), but skimmed the context, so up until “they were only slaves” I thought it was Moses talking about murdering every non-Jewish firstborn in Egypt. And I was glad that apparently somebody in the film had tried to call them out on that tactic. But no, it’s just the same-old-same-old.

See, you have no idea how much that incident scarred me as a child. You’re supposed to hear that story and empathise with the oh-poor-Jewish-slaves-who-just-want-to-be-free, but I empathised with the Egyptian peasants. My fellow firstborns, slaughtered en masse for being born to the wrong families at the wrong time. Innocent, unknowing people, who happened to meet a totally arbitrary qualification that I met.

(My parents, in a desperate attempt to console me, tried to tell me I didn’t meet the qualifications. That in their place, I’d have been one of the ones with goat’s blood painted on the doorway. Thing is, being firstborn is more important to me than being Jewish 10.5 months out of the year, and even during Christmas season, it’s not so much “Jewish” that’s important as much as “not Christian”. (The Egyptians weren’t Christian either.))

That damned story was what made me really aware, on a visceral level, of my mortality. Learning how not to be viscerally aware of mortality (apparently some people do manage to function while aware of it, but I can’t imagine how) was an extremely long, painful process. By the time I’d more or less finished, it had taken me something like a third of my lifetime-at-that-point. (Then Five for Fighting released “100 Years” and started getting it played on all the radios and even a TV commercial, and I had to spend another few months re-doing some of the painstakingly crafted mental blocks. I swear, if I ever meet the one man who comprises Five for Fighting, I’ll…well, I probably couldn’t get away with punching him. I suppose I’d tell him about how he rubbed salt in a traumatised child’s wound, and let his own guilt punish him appropriately.)

Occasionally I hear of people who laugh at the idea that the Bible isn’t suitable for children. I’m not laughing.

Tags:

#long post #Brin talks about herself for no particular reason #death tw #(kind of a meta death-tw) #(it’s a story about how *I* needed death tw’s for a few years) #(I haven’t had a full-on 100-Years-style breach of the psychological barriers in a long time) #(but sometimes there’s still little leaks) #(there’s something about the way Florence Welch sings ‘I’m going to drink myself to death’) #(something about the way Cecil says ‘blood’ when reciting the Night Vale Community College minutes) #(that reminds me of being seven) #(I’m glad I’m not seven anymore)

{{next post in sequence}}

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

paperwaspnest:

willnobilis:

taylorswiftmademefearless:

stydiaofficial:

if you don’t think some of the hate Taylor Swift receives is unnecessary and sexist let me just remind you that she once wore a black turtle neck, jeans and boots and this was a result

image

image

scandalous wow cover your eyes

So…the same outfit Steve Jobs wore for years….

“Steve Jobs sexes up the WWDC stage with figure-hugging black turtleneck”

…is it even possible to “sex up” a stage while wearing a remembrance poppy? Don’t symbols of the horrors of war kind of kill the mood?

Tags:

#Taylor Swift #Remembrance Day

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

jonpertwee:

Mentally ill person: I’m having a really bad and hard time right now.

Other person: Haha yeah aren’t we all.

You do realise this sort of thing encourages people not to seek treatment for their mental illnesses?

What this post is saying, to everyone not *diagnosed* with a mental illness, is that their current level of misery is normal and proper, and they should just suck it up and deal without so much as a complaint. (Technically, it permits complaining to non-mentally-ill people, but such people are not easy to find, and you usually can’t tell when you’ve found them.)

For some of the not-known-to-be-mentally-ill people who read this post, that claim will not be true. You don’t know which people they are. *They* don’t know which people they are. You have just thrown another stumbling block onto the already difficult path towards even *recognising* that they have a problem, let alone dealing with it.

(This post brought to you by someone who is regularly kept up at night by the worry that maybe she deserves better than her current mental state. Maybe the reason people don’t talk about struggling–multiple times a month, failing–to keep from being overwhelmed by the combined guilt of every wrong they have ever directly or indirectly committed is because they genuinely don’t *have* such struggles. Or maybe they do, and don’t talk about it because of living in a culture that doesn’t allow people to treat guilt as important. Who can say?)

Tags:

#posts I am almost certainly going to regret #(but what’s a few more litres in an ocean) #(the following category tag was added retroactively:) #our roads may be golden or broken or lost

Image ~ ~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

cosmictuesdays:

al-grave:

Guess which one got poured on the pancakes today

The viscosity of maple syrup – even the fake stuff – and soy sauce is so different, though, that the only way I can think of someone not noticing is if they’d be too tired to taste anything.

I figured they noticed once they started pouring, but by then it was too late to avoid soy-sauce-soaked pancakes.

Tags:

#reply via reblog

Facts from the 2014 UK Editions of Harry Potter

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

littlebastardreviews:

  • Before the Hogwarts Express, some young wizards and witches made their way to Hogwarts on broomsticks and in enchanted carriages
  • There are other fractional platforms at King’s Cross station. Try 7 1/2 for a trip to wizard-only villages in Europe. 
  • It took five and a half minutes for the Sorting Hat to decide whether to place Minerva McGonagall in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw
  • Several Hogwarts students have caused mayhem at King’s Cross by dropping suitcases full of newt spleens or biting spellbooks all over the Muggle Station.
  • Peeves the poltergeist caused a three-day evacuation of Hogwarts in 1876 after escaping a trap set for him armed with several dangerous weapons. 
  • The one exception to the general magical aversion to Muggle technology is cars. Even the Ministry of Magic owns a fleet, modified with various useful charms. 
  • Many wizards were unhappy with the invention of the Muggle-like Knight Bus, and refused to use it when it first hit the streets. 
  • Headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts can teach their magical portrait to act and behave exactly like themselves. 
  • Sir Cadogan’s most famous encounter was with the Wyvern of Wye, a dragon-like creature, whom he accidentally killed with his broken wand. 
  • Only one non-magical person has ever managed to get as far as the Hogwarts Sorting Hat before being exposed as a Squib. 
  • Of the Eleven wizarding schools in the world, the African school of Uagadou is the only one to select pupils by Dream Messenger, leaving a token in the child’s hand whilst they sleep. 
  • The 1809 Quidditch World Cup final turned into a human versus tree battle when one of the players managed to jinx an entire forest to attack the stadium. 
  • The Hufflepuff ghost, the Fat Friar, was executed after senior churchman became suspicious of his ability to cure the pox by poking peasants with a stick. 
  • Every year St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries treats at least one injury caused by homemade Floo powder. 
  • Before she became a teacher at Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall used to work for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic. 
  • Part of the process of becoming an Animagus requires you to carry a leaf from a Mandrake in your mouth for an entire month. 
  • A Dark wizard called Raczidian was devoured by maggots that appeared from his wand when he unsuccessfully attempted to cast the Patronus Charm.
  • Any part of a person’s body can be added to the Polyjuice Potion to allow the consumer to take their form, including hair, toenail clippings, dandruff or worse…
  • Remus Lupin’s father, Lyall, was a world-renowned authority on magical creatures like poltergeists and Boggarts. 
  • It took 167 Memory Charms and the largest mass Concelment Charm ever performed in Britain to modify a muggle steam engine and create the Hogwarts Express. 
  • Students from the Russian Wizarding school, Koldovstoretz, play a version of Quidditch where they fly on entire, uprooted trees instead of broomsticks. 

Yes, these are all canon. Thought I’d type it up to have it as a text reference. Enjoyyy. 

#omg, #i’m loving the extra insight into mcgonagall here, #especially picturing her carrying a leaf in her mouth for a whole month, #can you imagine?, #but also, #wtf, #there are only ELEVEN wizarding schools in the whole WORLD?, #that seems… like a low number?, #unless other wizarding communities have different ways of educating their children (cosmic-llin)

That’s what I was thinking, although rather than McGonagall I thought of the Marauders. Like, at least McGonagall was openly training to be an Animagus. Not only did the (non-Lupin) Marauders have to hold leaves in their mouths for a month, they had to do it without anyone noticing. Without being caught pocketing Mandrake leaves (or if they were caught, having to come up with a reasonable-seeming explanation). Without complaining about the inconvenience except to each other, and only if they were sure nobody else was listening.

Also, a moment of silence for the Muggles who lost their memories in the making of the Hogwarts Express. *bows head*

Tags:

#Harry Potter #Potterverse mages are *way* too Memory-Charm-happy

Image ~ ~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

thetrekkiehasthephonebox:

ds9vgrconfessions:

Follow | Confess | Archive

[I know it wasn’t ever possible, but I’d have loved to see a crossover between DS9 and Voyager. Just the conversations and different points of view would be interesting. The juxtaposition between certain people and elements especially. Sisko, having a family with career opposite Janeway who chose a different path. Kira and Chakotay’s feelings on the Cardassians. B’Elanna and Worf’s different ways of being Klingon. Quark and Neelix, Tuvok and Odo, O’Brien and Harry, Jadzia and Seven…]

I take your crossover episode and raise you a movie complete with Changeling/Borg Alliance.

Changeling/Borg alliance.

Changeling. Borg. Alliance.

…that is an intriguing idea.

(Both creepy hive minds. It’s a safe bet neither of them can assimilate the other, so there isn’t that threat. The Borg can bring an order more complete than the Founders ever could. The Founders can teach them advanced genetic engineering to complement their inorganic technology, reshaping their drones’ organic parts as well as augmenting them.)

Tags:

#Star Trek #DS9 #Voyager #crossovers #story ideas I will never write