It's so strange that - at least in North America - the style of living in which you have your own room but only a partial kitchen, but the building has a large communal eating area in which a paid professional makes food at scale on a fixed schedule every day (with a few options, but nothing made to order) is only available to a) college students, b) prisoners, and c) people in long-term care homes.
Not everyone would want to live like that, of course, but I'll bet you that a lot of people would. It's a great living situation for single people, young people just starting out, and people who are in a city on a temporary basis. Cooking at scale is significantly more time- and cost-efficient than each individual cooking or getting takeout. Cleaning kitchen facilities scales similarly well. Employ a few people who know what they're doing and are paid well to do it, and they'll keep that kitchen running safely, efficiently, and cleanly in a way that a few hundred pressed-for-time 20-somethings never could. And a lot of people simply do not care enough about what they eat to want anything else.
Moreover, not putting a full kitchen in each unit means that the units can be smaller without cutting into living space, cheaper to build, and safer. Lots of people who live alone don't cook a lot, since cooking for one is not very time-efficient, which means that for all those people the kitchen is practically just dead space. You could replace its function with a microwave and a minifridge, and if you do, you've given that person a whole extra room.
And the thing is, this style of living does exist in North America. You just can't voluntarily get it unless you go to college. Why? Because we have - for some reason - decided that this globally-not-uncommon way of living is somehow beneath the dignity of an adult. We should change that.
Not gonna lie, I'm a little annoyed that despite the vast amount of project hail Mary spoilers I saw on tumblr in the last few weeks (and yes I know that not blocking the tag was my own fault) I did not see a single post about the huge flashing light scene in the middle of the film. Hell, it was set right in the middle of a very important plot scene. But the flashes were so bright and so intense that I had to close my eyes and cover them with my hands for I think nearly two minutes. And I'm not even epileptic! I just get migraines. Thankfully I went to see it with a friend who could tell me what was happening in the scene.
So, I'm going to warn people who may not have seen the movie yet. When the ship is pulling away from the green planet, the music will calm down, then a bang will be heard. That's when the flashing lights start. They'll pretty pretty much keep going until there's a scene change and the audio cuts out. That's when you can open your eyes.
The James Webb Space Telescope spotted a chain of 20 galaxies, dubbed the Cosmic Vine, which stretches 13 million light-years across and dates back to just 3 billion years after the Big Bang.
I think it would be funny to write a murder mystery where not only did every single character involved have an obvious motive to kill this mf, they were actually all attempting to murder him first, but the murder attempts all cancelled each other out all except for one. Two people tried to poison him but the poisons just happen to work as antidotes for each other, and instead of killing him only gave him the shits, and due to having the shits he couldn't go hunting that day like he had planned, foiling the plans of the one who had conditioned his favourite hunting horse to panic and bolt at the cue of a whistle, and the other murder attempt of tampering with his gun so that it would have exploded his whole face off.
The whole mystery isn't about who could have done it or how, but who was the one who got lucky and actually succeeded.
When I was in high school a friend of mine would host murder mystery dinners once or twice a year. They were the kind you could buy as a kit -- I don't even know if they exist anymore -- and everyone was assigned (or chose) a character, then received a booklet of clues to share. The idea was to spend an evening in a one-shot LARP designed like an Agatha Christie novel.
I was a year above most of them at school so they threw a "goodbye" murder mystery for me just before graduation, and about 2/3 of the way through the game we all realized that everyone had at least attempted to kill the victim. The game then shifted from "whodunnit" to "who succeeded in dunninit" which we all felt was not only super fun but above the usual level of narrative complexity for those games.
After we solved it, we discovered that the game wasn't from a kit -- the host had written it herself and meticulously printed out the booklets in replica style of the kits. It was the best going-away party I think I could possibly have had.
When my mother forgets a word, she is the queen of coming up with new words. Words that would take a third National Treasure movie to fully decipher. I was talking to her yesterday, and she said this: “You know the time for los jibbities is coming up. You must be so excited!” Oh, is it time for los jibbities already? I must have missed it on my calendar. Are we celebrating something? “Of course! We should all be celebrating, shouldn’t we?” OK, so los jibbities is a happy thing. It’s not like something is giving you the heebie-jeebies, which would have been my one and only guess. “Los heebie-jeebies? Now you’re making things up...and this is my show.” You’re right. The time for los jibbities is coming up. Is this a season? “Yes, the season for love. The season for pride.” OK, los jibbities. “Yeah, sound it out.” Los…jibbities. LGBTs! “Sí, mira cuz you’re gay!” “You couldn’t just say pride season? You couldn’t just… *laughs*
The apocalypse has come and gone, and against all odds, Pharloom remains standing. The time has come for Hornet to return to Hallownest, accompanied by friends and allies: Shakra hopes to explore the mythical land beyond the wastes, and properly lay to rest a member of her own tribe; Lace fears unraveling without the aid of a Weaver, while contending with the immensity of a future free of her mother’s threads; and the Green Prince lives only only to spite the Citadel, passively seeking a more honorable end than might be found in the rubble of his homeland.
Meanwhile, Hornet returns from Pharloom with magic and knowledge that might aid in the slow recovery of Hallownest and Deepnest–and perhaps offer the chance to call home the sibling she once thought lost to her forever.
Chapter 7: The Shape of a Future You Can't Yet Grasp
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It's been ten thousand years since we had a chapter properly focused on the green bean, but it looks like he's finally stopped dissociating long enough to participate in the plot. It's probably because of the Emotional Support Grubs, let's be honest.
At any rate, we're kicking off his plotline properly, with mantis politics and the introduction of the only major original character in this comic--Vise, a mantis who until recently existed in my notes exclusively as "Himbo Mantis."
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Hollow Knight Fanart Masterpost
Transcript:
Page 1
Vise: A challenge to the Lords?
Hornet: Yes. My companion seeks passage through mantis territories... however, we have been informed that travel through the wastes is restricted at present.
Vise: You have been told true.
Vise: The Second passed during your absence. The Last remains strong in mind, but increasingly frail in body. Until a new Lord is named, our borders remain closed.
Hornet: Frankly, I had expected you to be Shakra's opponent, Vise.
Vise: Alas, no. As bearer of the Mark, you know well the pride of my people--change does not come easy, and I will not prove the taint of my lineage by seizing power not freely given.
Page 2
Hornet: Regardless, I should like to meet with your Lord, if only to declare my return to Hallownest. I would have your Guard as escort to avoid any undue confusion.
Vise: An excellent suggestion! Your presence would be most welcome!
Vise: And your green friend's as well, should he wish to join us.
Lace: Wait! Why is he invited, but we are not!
Vise: ...
Vise: ...because he's a mantis?
Hornet: ....
Lace: ....
Hollow: ?
Vise: ...no?
The Green Prince: ....
Vise: ...Helter, he's a mantis.
Helter: As you say, sir.
The Green Prince: ....
Page 3
Vise: So, foreign bug... From where do you hail, if not a distant tribe?
The Green Prince: Ah... but by your own decree, am I not a mantis?
Vise: Ha! You speak well, fair kin! However. Were it not so, what might you be?
The Green Prince: ...I am a Verdanian.
Vise: Auntie, what is a Verdanian?
Hornet: Him. Clearly.
Vise: ....
The Green Prince: ....
The Green Prince: And you are the prince of these lands?
Vise: ...I beg pardon?
Page 4
The Green Prince: They treat you as an heir apparent... so I had assumed you of royal descent.
Vise: ???
Hornet: The mantises swear fealty to neither god nor queen.
Hornet: Their rulers are elected by council, often based on demonstrations of leadership and martial skill--both arenas in which Vise excels. But the Lords have not ceded power.
The Green Prince: What stays his claws?
Hornet: The current stewards have held jurisdiction since my youth--longer than memory for many a mortal bug. Under their guidance, the tribe maintained sovereignty despite the encroachment of the Pale.
Mantis Youth: Vise! You're back!
The Green Prince: So it is an issue of politic rather than strength-- To depose a leader so regarded would reflect poorly, even in tradition's name.
Vise: Denna! Mel! Claws! Claws! We've spoken about this!
Mantis Youth: But we missed you!
Page 5
The Green Prince: ...
Vise: ?
The Green Prince: ....
Vise: Hello Auntie!
I bring a real “human lives are more important than animals. Yes, even than your doggo” vibe to the function that the people airlifting dogs out of warzones really don’t enjoy
not every mutual fits neatly into an archetypal medievalism but there are some mutuals that im like yeah addressing you as “my liege” would come strangely naturally
