Dragon's Aerie

[foolfortune]

[fipindustries]

I cannot stand the parodies of modern major general, they're overdone and simply not as good as the original. They've done them about everything, whatever topic, big or small.

And when i notice one of them my eyes will always start to roll.

The diction's always slurry when they rush the complicated words, and adding many fricatives will turn it so cacophonous. The slanted rhymes are silly and they keep just making more and more, please someone stop the parodies of modern major general.

The scanning of the lyrics in the meter is unbearable, they emphazise the syllables in ways that are untenable, in short in matters musical, prosodic and ephemeral, i cannot stand the parodies of modern major general!

[silhouette-cosplay]

I brought this unused Loki concept to life!!

I’d been eyeing this stunning design by @aleksibriclot for years, and a little while ago (after two years of working on it) I finally finished it! It has all the dark norse fantasy vibes that I wanted Ragnarok to be, and I figured hey, I can make it myself!

I had to up a lot of my leatherworking skills for this one, and I dove into a lot of new skills as well to try to make all the pieces a cohesive whole. It uses lambskin leather, suede cowhide, and veg tan, as well as an entire sheepskin for the cape!

This whole costume has truly been a labour of Loki love and I’m so glad I was able to share all the madness (process) and the finished look!

wip tag | more of this costume

[nicehatgeorgia]

The two year-old is now a solid two and a half. Just now, he was sitting on the couch playing with his pretend flip phone and he frowned and said “for gods sake. My battery is empty.”

The other day at breakfast I asked him if he was going to eat any more of his oatmeal and he said “no, I think I’m just gonna move on with my life.”

[nicehatgeorgia]

Today we were walking along and he asked me “How many Octobers is it today?” I told him it was the 21st. 

He tried a bite of his hot soup at dinner and made a face and said “Mama, my soup is a little too temperature for me.”

[nicehatgeorgia]

Upon being served 1% milk for the first time, instead of his regular 2%: “is this water?”

Me: “no, it’s milk”

Kid: “but are you sure?”

[nicehatgeorgia]

Came up to me the other day, the middle of his pants totally soaked, and said “mama, I’m having a situation called ‘I peed in my pants.’”

[nicehatgeorgia]

I don’t think I even told you guys about the six months he spent saying “fuck” instead of “truck.”

[the-emblematic]

I have to laugh at the folks in the notes claiming this is fake because “no 2-yr old is that advanced”. My guys, I work at a daycare almost exclusively with 2-3 year olds and let me tell you some of the wild shit I heard this last week alone,

“Uhhh, i ASSUME we’re going to the playground soon??” -2.5 year old girl

“[3 year old boy] pushed me because he doesn’t have a manners.” -2 yr old girl

“Did you spill your water?” “No no no no it’s not a concern” -2 yr old boy (while running away, dripping wet)

Kids are hilarious and smarter than you think

[catgirlcaliphate]

If you don’t have a lot of interactions with young children:

Kids are smarter than you think

Six months makes a really big difference when that is 1/5 of the total time you’ve been alive

[thewrittenpost]

All this, and also, they can tell you lots about their favorite things. My 2 year old nephew can tell you all about Star Wars (the 8 movies he’s seen at least) and loves going out of his way to bring up how Anakin was good and bad and good again when he died. Trust me, little kids learn and mimic and reenact all the things they get attached to. Also, he named his first fish Jengo Fett, and all following fish Boba Fett, so juries still out on how much he understands clones.

[atreefullofstars]

Kids pick up the language that’s used around and to them. Mannerisms too. They are tiny, efficient mimics and it will come out at the WEIRDEST times. Young kids will ABSOLUTELY say all the stuff listed here.

[bundibird]

My cousin was somewhere between two and three, and I’d just arrived at her house, and she’s animatedly telling me a story of some kind, and I listen as I make my way through the house, get to the couch, and kick my shoes off. She stops dead in the middle of her sentence, puts her hands on her hips, levels me with a glare the likes of which I haven’t seen since, and goes, “WHAT are they doing there? Do you think the box at the front door is for DECORATION?”

Her mum, standing in the kitchen and watching all this, was GOBSMACKED. Apparently she said that exact phrase more often than she realised, and her kid had picked it up verbatim and started using it on unsuspecting guests (me).

(I got up and put my shoes in the box at the front door immediately)

[lasrina]

My family’s lore includes the time my mother offhandedly said to Cousin’s son–who was maybe five–that Cousin’s wife certainly did have strong opinions about some minor thing, and the kid let out a sigh and said, in the driest and flattest and most world-weary tone you’ve ever heard, “Tell me about it.”

[mod2amaryllis]

once i was helping with a class of 3 year olds and during drawing time one girl asked for a lion, specifically a lioness. i drew it and she just looked in silence so thinking she wanted a more liony lion i was like “do you want me to draw a boy lion next?” and she gives me this 🤨ass affronted look and says “umm she doesn’t NEED a man.”

[aqueerkettleofish]

Kids will do three things reliably:

Repeat what they’ve heard, incorrectly and/or in the wrong context, to comic effect

Repeat what they’ve heard in exactly the correct context, which is somehow even funnier

Casually knock you on your ass with some offhand, but utterly profound, original statement

[a-krogan-skald-and-bearsark]

My five years old Niece has started going “Too bad, so sad.” And when called on it not being very nice goes “That’s what Mama always says.”

[azurelunatic]

Upon being asked to spell our (deceptively simple but quite uncommon) last name, I think by someone who thought I probably couldn’t, I repeated it using Mama’s exact patient tone and cadence that she used when spelling it to various companies and other bureaucratic entities on the phone. Mama was a little startled.

[sweaters-and-rainy-days]

I forget the exact context but when my brother was about three or four my aunt said something and he just goes “It’s not all about you Auntie [Name]” and everyone in the room, including the aunt, lost it laughing

[chenisthebestkitty]

Tiffany couldn't quite work out how Miss Level got paid. Certainly the basket she carried filled up more than it emptied. They'd walk past a cottage and a woman would come scurrying out with a fresh-baked loaf or a jar of pickles, even though Miss Level hadn't stopped there. But they'd spend an hour somewhere else, stitching up the leg of a farmer who'd been careless with an axe, and get a cup of tea and a stale biscuit. 

It didn't seem fair.

“Oh, it evens out,” said Miss Level, as they walked on through the woods. 

“You do what you can. People give what they can, when they can. Old Slapwick there, with the leg, he's as mean as a cat, but there'll be a big cut of beef on my doorstep before the week's end, you can bet on it. His wife will see to it. And pretty soon people will be killing their pigs for the winter, and I'll get more brawn, ham, bacon and sausages turning up than a family could eat in a year.”

“You do? What do you do with all that food?”

“Store it,” said Miss Level. 

“But you-”

“I store it in other people. It's amazing what you can store in other people.” Miss Level laughed at Tiffany's expression. “I mean, I take what I don't need round to those who don't have a pig, or who're going through a bad patch, or who don't have anyone to remember them.”

“But that means they'll owe you a favour!”

“Right! And so it just keeps on going round. It all works out.”

“I bet some people are too mean to pay-”

“Not pay,” said Miss Level, severely. “A witch never expects payment and never asks for it and just hopes she never needs to. But, sadly, you are right.”

“And then what happens?"

“What do you mean?”

“You stop helping them, do you?”

“Oh, no,” said Miss Level, genuinely shocked. “You can't not help people just because they're stupid or forgetful or unpleasant. Everyone's poor round here. If I don't help them, who will?”

"A Hat full of Sky" - Terry Pratchett

[tentacion3099]

8 minutes of what I consider to be a prime example of unrestricted warfare. Everytime I hear about algorithms and AI , I remember the good old Inslaw affair with PROMIS...

[sadbirbs]

One of my favorite scenes ever is still “early 19th century British gentleman tries and fails to explain misogyny to a dragon.”

[fyeahgothicromance]

[professionalchaoticdumbass]

IT

[octal-alchemist]

FUCKEN

[y4wnd3r3]

WIMDY

[ruhua-langblr]

Duolingo Sucks, Now What?: A Guide

Now that the quality of Duolingo has fallen (even more) due to AI and people are more willing to make the jump here are just some alternative apps and what languages they have:

"I just want an identical experience to DL"

Busuu (Languages: Spanish, Japanese, French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Korean)

"I want a good audio-based app"

Language Transfer (Languages: French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, English for Spanish Speakers)

"I want a good audio-based app and money's no object"

Pimsleur (Literally so many languages)

Glossika (Also a lot of languages, but minority languages are free)

*anecdote: I borrowed my brother's Japanese Pimsleur CD as a kid and I still remember how to say the weather is nice over a decade later. You can find the CDs at libraries and "other" places I'm sure.

"I have a pretty neat library card"

Mango (Languages: So many and all endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)

"I want SRS flashcards and have an android"

AnkiDroid: (Theoretically all languages, pre-made decks can be found easily)

"I want SRS flashcards and I have an iphone"

AnkiApp: It's almost as good as AnkiDroid and free compared to the official Anki app for iphone

"I don't mind ads and just want to learn Korean"

lingory

"I want an app made for Mandarin that's BETTER than DL and has multiple languages to learn Mandarin in"

ChineseSkill (You can use their older version of the course for free)

"I don't like any of these apps you mentioned already, give me one more"

Bunpo: (Languages: Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Korean, and Mandarin)

[were--ralph]

@ duolingo users

More ai shit taking jobs

[dragons-aerie]

Well, crap.

Not only is this bad for translators, it also sucks for people trying to learn the language. I mean, AI translation has existed for a while (Google Translate, anyone?), and it's... not great. Especially at translating idioms.

Having just spent $60 for a year of Duolingo-without-ads... I'm irked.

[olderthannetfic]

As a writer, how do you balance butt-in-seat writing time commitment with reading enough of other people's work not to stagnate as a writer? I'm fortunate enough to (humblebrag) not have any trouble simply sitting down and making myself write, but among my other time commitments, I'm a bit worried I'm not doing the latter - especially because snatching bits of writing here and there is easier for me than finding the time to sit down with a novel, i.e. the form I'm trying to write in.

--

Eh... I think this becomes more of a problem if you're writing novels full time for 20 years or something. If you're only just starting (as I frankly am still), you have your entire reading history behind you. I guess if you're getting started at 15, maybe that's more of an issue, but most people are well into adulthood when they make their first serious attempt at a novel.

Plenty of novel writers read more well-written nonfiction while they're actually writing than they do other people's novels.

If you're actively studying how some aspect of novel-writing works, absolutely, go read novels for research. But if you just want to keep the sound of good language in your ear or think about plot, all the other stuff you consume and all the stuff you've consumed in the past will also inform you.

And, tbh, reading only novels in some narrow niche will also potentially have issues. Read some good journalism. Read popular nonfiction. Read dry academic articles. Watch all kinds of things. Take a walk and observe the world.

If you're finding that you are stagnating, that's one thing, but I wouldn't just assume it's going to happen.

[kittenwriter]

I had a conversation once with a published fantasy writer where she mentioned that while she was aware that reading stuff that was not the narrow niche was good, she had not viscerally understood this until reading Eragon, which she could immediately tell upon reading "ah, yes, here is work by someone who has never read anything but a very specific type of fantasy novel."

[olderthannetfic]

*howling with laughter*

Okay. Point.

There are some examples where this is a real thing that had consequences.

[foldingfittedsheets]

May I present: Leda and the Swan Princess! It's based on this post about a swan princess who refuses to go quietly in obscurity when cursed. (If you liked this one you will probably also like my other comics which you can find on my pinned post).

If you enjoyed and want to support a queer art student, you can tip me over on my Ko-fi! Tips help me out dramatically while I'm still in school!

[andywarnercomics]

In honor of Day of the Dead, here’s a repost of my comic about the San Francisco Columbarium and the man who spent 26 years restoring it.

This comic originally appeared on Medium at The Nib. Go check out my other work there.

[true-me-snafu]

Emmitt and the Columbarium.

[makingdonalddrumpfagain]

[guerrillatech]

[polyamorousmisanthrope]

SLAMS REBLOG

[subtextsays]

Been putting shelves together and moving wheels for the last 2 nights. Close to having the herd collected in one place!

I learned on the antique flax wheel bottom right. It's probably the oldest of the bunch, closing on 200 years I'd guess. About half are functional and the rest projects that need varying amounts of work. Need to weed out a few too. Also these are all secondhand wheels. (My basic rule of thumb is don't pay more than half the new price for a used modern wheel.)

[knottybliss]

Oh— oh. Oh wow

[afewdroppedstitches]

My dream antique wheel is a super slanty. I just love them to bits. They aren't really available in my area and I've stopped looking now that I'm paying for a mortgage and such. But a dream is a dream whether or not your working on fulfilling it.

[devinellekurtz]

Library fines have gotten really weird since the change in management…