Dark Puck

@darkpuck

3DS FC: 4227-4230-8538

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my brain is on fire ask me things about Time Travel Fixit Isekai Loqi

I will absolutely tell you that ChatGPT is not better than Google - even in this day and age where Google sucks. And there are other search engines that will do you better than Google. I will absolutely tell you if you stop using your brain to think, your ability to think will grow weaker. I will tell you there is an environmental, and economic and human cost to using AI that we don't have any full scope of yet. I don't want to partake in any GENAI generated material.

#all aboard the queue-queue train

"This is Ankh-Morpork, you know. We've got extra pronouns here."

GNU Terry Pratchett

The full quote is fascinating though, and adds an interesting context as it's Angua (a werewolf) and Carrot (human, but raised by dwarves) discussing a dwarf colleague, Cheery.

"Female? He told you he was female?" "She," Angua corrected. "This is Ankh-Morpork, you know. We've got extra pronouns here." She could smell his bewilderment... "Well, I would have though she'd have the decency to keep it to herself," Carrot said finally. "I don't think it's very clever, you know, to go around drawing attention to the fact." "Carrot, I think you might have something wrong with your head," said Angua. "What?" "I think you might have it stuck up your bum."

Sir Terry Pratchett - "Feet of Clay"

This is CARROT being the asshole. Carrot who has, throughout all the prior books, been depicted as basically the best of all possible people. He is noble, brave, considerate, kind. He is the good guy in the entire City...

... and yet, he grew up dwarf, and has picked up their more conservative views on gender identity.

Discworld dwarves start out in the books as basically a people without visible gender differences (thanks to the woman growing beards just like the men) and using "he/him" pronouns as their default. Anything else is seen as breaking the most basic of social conventions. (Dwarf dating is described early on as being two dwarves who like each other spending an inordinately long time trying to find out, as tactfully as possible, what gender the other dwarf is)

Carrot does immediately adopt the "she" pronoun for Cheery, which is but wishes she didn't make such a fuss about it. He's prepared to tolerate her choices, but he doesn't APPROVE of them, and thinks that that is enough.

Carrot, because he IS Carrot, does learn to open his mind on this subject, perhaps his final frontier of bias, but I do love that it's addressed as something he has to work on, and succeed.

And to Terry Pratchett's credit what started out as a throwaway joke about dwarf sex, gradually becomes a multi-volume subplot which is a fascinating exploration of gender and social identity as more dwarves start to "come out" as being female, and not just identifying as female, but changing their form of dress to something which matches who they are (they keep their beards though, because to a dwarf, that has nothing to do with gender, and everything to do with being a dwarf) and how their society has to adjust, with differing levels of comfort, to this new reality.

thefingerfuckingfemalefury

Carrot was also prejudiced against the undead early on as well. And the fact that he unlearns these views is a good example of a common theme in Pratchett's work

The overwhelming theme of Pratchett's work is change. Not good vs evil but progress vs stasis/going backwards. The protagonists of Pratchett's stories are people who can take on board new ideas and change and grow and adapt. Some of them start out as very stupid people with very stupid views in fact until they learn and grow and improve. The villains on the other hand are people who desperately want things to either stay the same or regress back to some imagined "Good old days" that they prefer.

homoqueerjewhobbit

While we're talking about Terry Pratchett gender, there's also golems, who are basically lumps of clay that have been brought to life but don't actually have any gender or secondary sexual characteristics so everyone defaults to male and he/him. As the books story goes on some of them decide to try being women just because.

Feet of Clay came out in 1996. I cannot overstate how pronoun discourse wasn't anywhere on the radar then. I'm fairly terminally online, active in fandom, and the first I can remember is some timid discussion of neopronouns in the mid-2000s, where "how could you tell other people to use them for you" was a major puzzle. (I still love neopronouns - zie/hir appeals to me in a way they distinctly doesn't, genderfluid though I am.)

ALSO also also

1) I don't have the book to hand, but when Cheery comes out she changes her name to Cheri, because "sometimes, when you shout who you are to the whole world, you need to do it quietly." It's such a beautiful expression of coming out being a process, and one that needn't be undertaken all at once.

2) Pterry had the best goyische take I've ever seen on golems, and I will die on that hill. It's not perfect, but it is really well-done, and it was done with respect, and to me that might be even more important than perfection.

strawberry-wizzard

I had the book to hand because I reread it recently. The quote goes:

When you've made up your mind to shout out who you are to the world, it's a relief to know that you can do it in a whisper.

THERE we go.

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pangur-and-grim

can I say something. it is really funny when you see people ripping random queer books to shreds, like dream daddy cancellation style, and then you dig a little deeper to see what unproblematic material meets their standards, and it's all Supernatural and Death Note

pangur-and-grim

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don't be mean to yourself that's you

you live there

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thebibliosphere

I regret to inform everyone that I remain Apollo's favorite dodgeball target.

I was organizing some old Hunger Pangs files (removing the various iterations of 'untitled,' 'untitled1,' 'untitled1(1)' from my hard drive), and this excerpt from the next book, originally written in 2018, jumped out at me, hit me with a steel chair then took off after rifling through my pockets for spare change:

"We're going to run out of coffee soon," Vlad said, sounding painfully resigned, Nathan thought. "Really? It's that bad?" The vampire nodded and set down the ledger he'd been looking at. "Tea and sugar too. Among other things." He sighed. "But I suppose that's what happens when you spend years waging wars you cannot hope to win, then imposing ridiculous tariffs to try and get your way when the wars fail." He looked up at Nathan, his black eyes far too bright in the dim light, and gave a humorless laugh, his upper lip twisting to reveal a disdainful flash of fang. "But don't worry. I'm sure our glorious leaders will find a way to blame it on the refugees seeking shelter on our shores. The bastards always do."

*smacking my pattern recognition with a hammer* How the fuck do I turn this thing off?

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Brotherhood of The Orb

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the matrix: revisited (2001)

The masculine side of Morpheus is really evident in the Matrix and his feminine side is evident in the Neb.

sourcreammachine

hey why are we interviewing fishburne lying down on a garage floor

can dudes not just chill anymore

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2dtraditionalanimation

Roger - Milt Kahl

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Fuck that post going around saying "you can have coffee in your story without justifying it :) you don't need to explain everything :)" I want, no, I DEMAND a fully researched ethnobotanical paper on every single food item in your work, if you don't explain to me where did potatoes come from in your fantasy setting or don't explain how the industry of coffee works over interstellar distances with full detail you are doing things wrong and I personally hate you and I hate your stupid story, fuck you

Why are your stupid little wizards and knights eating potato stew in your dumb European middle ages fantasy world. Where did they get potatoes from. Where is the center of domestication of potatoes, do you have a fantasy Andean civilization? What are the social and economic consequences of having such a calorie rich crop in cold climates. I don't care about "themes" or "enemies to lovers with found family", I didn't ask about that. Where does your idiot space captain gets their shitty coffee from. Is it imported from Earth? Are there coffee growing worlds? Is it an alien species replacement with the same name? What are the social consequences of that? Don't try to change the subject, I'll stop pointing the gun when I want, I'm trying to have a conversation here,

ever-so-slightly-monstrous

gold in them there tags

True. ...Which is why some of us have sites like this...

A recipe/cookbook project based in Diane Duane's award-winning Middle Kingdoms epic fantasy universe

...and pages like this.

A flavorful approach to a favorite staple vegetable of the Four Realms

For people inhabiting a culture in which artificial refrigeration of vegetables and other foods—while available via sorcerers and Fireworkers—is rarely terribly convenient, the parsnip’s impressive keeping qualities (especially when clamped) and its relatively long growing season are obviously going to make it popular as a side dish… or in some recipes, a main dish. The parsnip also provides a versatile and interesting backdrop for pairings with other vegetables and spices—its own intrinsic spiciness and warmth providing a pleasant foil for more assertive flavors. No other staple vegetable in the Four Realms’ food culture proffers so adaptable a welcome. (And perhaps none in ours. By comparison to the parsnip, the potato, in its initial state, is fairly bland. But Solanum tuberosum does not occur in the Middle Kingdoms, for reasons detailed here...)

Because getting it right matters. Even (or especially) when you're just making all this shit up.

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first of all cindylu is a gift from heaven AND halfway through this i realized that this is actually a parallel to noctis saying he’s vanilla extract

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spencerthespacer-deactivated202

captaincobaltblr

Hey wait a second, why did cats evolve to attack invisible things?

spencerthespacer-deactivated202

They were domesticated in Fertile Crescent and Egypt so probably an evolutionary advantage for snakes and scorpions that are hidden in sand and are more noticed by their movement than being seen directly

and also all the ghosts and devils.

mortimermcmirestinks

and also all the ghosts and devils.

#all aboard the queue-queue train

It's still so funny to me that hobbit society has technology like pony-traps and handkerchiefs and post offices but the realms of Men and Elves, at least, are very much still in their version of the High Middle Ages. I would kill for a scene where Aragorn starts doing the whole Galavant thing - we shall meet when the night air grows as chill as the depths of Moria and the setting sun colours the sky that particular shade of blue as to recall to us the sinking of Numenor into the very Sea Itself - and Pippin just goes 'have none of you guys ever learned to use a freaking clock'.

Frodo offers to buy Gandalf a watch so he can actually be on time for once and nearly gets bodied into Bywater Pool.

Sam is nearly reduced to tears upon trying to learn Gondorian recipes because all the cooks in Minas Tirith are using that old medieval technique of recite five Paternosters and the fish will be perfectly fried. Please. They're called egg-timers. Every hobbit has one. He'll buy them one himself if they'll just let him cook like a normal person.

WAIT FUCK HANG ON

‘In the house of Elrond, and it is ten o’clock in the morning,’ said a voice. ‘It is the morning of October the twenty-fourth, if you want to know.’ I seriously doubt Elrond has a big old cuckoo clock hanging around Rivendell and messing up the aesthetics so wizards evidently do keep timepieces about their person. Does Gandalf have a Rolex?

sea-salted-wolverine

Gandalf knows exactly what time it is and is late on purpose.

elodieunderglass

He has a timekeeping shrimp sewn into the brim of his hat

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yeah i like to give my blessing to the most pathetic looking weak little knight at the tournament. she can’t even look me in the eye when i give her my flower and she stutters out that she’ll do her best or something of the like. i think its funny when she has to cry and beg my forgiveness and i get to say “such a shame, i suppose my hand in marriage will have to go to someone else…” and then i get to hear her whimper like a dog. ive done this like 6 times alrea-

did she just win.

the-stew-goblin

I shall prepare a stew for the wedding! Extra salt!

wait wait wait stew goblin wait

get ready for the wedding

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"whats your favourite genre of music" songs that i like. it's pretty cool every single song in that genre is one that i like

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(Huntr/x's penthouse apartment, sometime hopefully in the near future)

Rumi, checking her emails: Bills, fanmail, bills, stupid ad deals, something that probably should have gone to Bobby, fanmail... oh huh. Someone is asking if they can make a parody of one or more of our songs.

Mira: People already do that, don't they? We encourage it.

Rumi: Yeah, but this guy's asking anyway.

Mira: Huh. That's considerate of them. Who is it?

Rumi: Some parody artist named Alfred Yankovic.

Mira: Oh, I think I've heard of him, isn't he kind of a big deal in the states-

Zoey, kicking open the door: YES YES YES TELL HIM YES A THOUSAND TIMES YES A MILLION TIMES YES LET HIM DO WHATEVER HE WANTS WITH OUR MUSIC

Mira: Definitely a big deal.

Zoey: ASK HIM IF HE'S DOING A POLKA MEDLEY PLEASE I NEED TO HEAR GOLDEN ON THE ACCORDION THIS IS A DREAM COME TRUE OH MY GOSH DO YOU THINK HE'LL LET ME CAMEO IN THE MUSIC VIDEO-

Rumi: So... we tell him yes?

Mira: We tell him yes.

Zoey: EEEEEEEEEEE WEIRD AL KNOWS WHO I AM THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE

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Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream You can know choose your mii's gender and dating preferences!

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