Scribblings, Ramblings, and sometimes Puns

[skopostheorie]

[depsidase]

[theaceofwords]

It's called the Global Justice Report, it is here. This is an actionable plan which can be sent to legislators and demanded of political parties. We could save the world within our lifetimes.

It has always been possible. It is still possible.

[the-punforgiven]

I'm just saying, if you're going to worldbuild magic being a "raw, primal force, akin to and interweaving with nature itself" you gotta explain to me why animals don't use it

[the-punforgiven]

I know the normal answer is "they just aren't smart enough for it" but idk I've seen enough media where a character uses a spell in a moment of brain-off panic ilI feel like animals could probably stumble into a spell or two like, accidentally

[the-punforgiven]

Also how funny would it be to see a completely normal regular bear cast magic missile outta nowhere

[the-punforgiven]

Also there is no way ravens wouldn't figure out spells, tbh

They're smart fuckin birds, I believe in them

Either through observing or just figuring shit out ravens could 100% learn how to cast spells I'm sure of it

[the-punforgiven]

Dogs can also cast Magic Missile but every time they do the projectile is shaped like a bone or a stick and they chase after it

[prokopetz]

Fantasy setting where every species of animal has One Fucked Up Trick exactly like in medieval bestiaries (e.g., panthers hypnotising their prey with sweet breath, pelicans reviving the dead with their willingly shed blood, etc.), except these are actually learned magic spells passed down from parent to offspring, so different populations of the same animal in different regions might have a different spell.

(If a species is domesticated you can teach it any spell you want, as long as you start 'em young enough; every breed of dog has a different "standard" spell, and knowing the "wrong" one is considered both a grave departure from breed standards and a potential violation of animal husbandry ethics.)

[theshunbun]

100% You are needed here 🖤

[artsekey]

This isn't my usual fare of post, but I've gotta say. There's a ton of overlap between religious fanaticism and ignorance.

People will die on any hill on behalf of what they think is "God's will". Vaccines, women's rights, LGBTQIA+ visibility, and there comes a point where it really does just start sounding insane. I just read an article about a woman running for the school board in my county who said she'll "make sure God always gets the victory". She also campaigned on the "Parental Rights in Education" act, which is part of the bill that restricts what can be taught in classrooms (re: gender/sexual identity up until 3rd grade).

And it's like... you are trying to sit on the board of education. You're not trying to catch a dub for Jesus in the arena of what books would best prepare our students for tomorrow. Some things make you personally uncomfortable, and instead of taking a step back and learning more about why those things make you uncomfortable, you decide that it's morally wrong because it feels wrong to you. And if it feels wrong, that must be God telling you it is wrong, right? Any effort to make it feel less wrong (i.e. learning about it) would be going against His will.

It's a pit with no escape. Like, you can tell me that you don't believe in vaccines. Every person on this earth deserves autonomy over their own body. But what I can't stand is the aura of superiority these people exude when they, knowing nothing about vaccines, claim they trust in God's plan and that vaccines are unnatural. You! Are using! Your religion! As an excuse! To stay Comfortably Ignorant! If you do know how they work and make the decision anyway, more power to you, but Jesus!

[To be clear, this isn't an anti-religion post. I'm religious. I just think the intersection of religion and ignorance is fucking disastrous, and the fact that there are people maintaining support in the world who say the most unhinged shit is looney-tunes level ridiculous.]

[mindflamer]

there is still time. there is still time. until your bones are in the fucking ground there is still time.

[aromanticduck]

Free service with ads: Well, if I'm not paying for it they have to foot the bill somehow.

Paid service with no ads: Well, if they're not funding it with ad revenue, they need to charge us something.

Paid service with ads: Well that's bullshit.

"We used to be a paid service without ads, but now we're putting ads in it! If you want the ad-free version you have to pay more for preeeeemium": Fuck you fuck you fuck you

[juststarsandthemoon]

Free service with no ads: Okay so these guys are stealing my data

[medievalistsnet]

Online Courses in Roman and Byzantine History

After Constantine Academy — Online Courses

Seminars in Byzantine studies from the After Constantine Academy. Hagiography, religion and society in Byzantium, and martyrdom in the Roman

[phantomrose96]

Hey kids, you need to start worrying a little less about getting “#mogged” and a little more about getting “#smogged”. This is an Air Quality Index public service announcement.

[xxxdragonfucker69xxx]

i should be allowed to forcibly vent steam like an overheating robot. why are we waiting around for sweat like some kind of homeostatic pile of ooze. i want to chug a cup of water blast it out of holes in my core and drop my temperature by ten degrees

[xxxdragonfucker69xxx]

ill settle for exhaling the steam in one great blast of course. im a reasonable woman

[mukuroom]

Oh boy, a complex character who's a woman! I love messy characters who hurt everyone around them and continue the cycles that hurt them!! Can't wait to share this joy with fellow fans– why's everyone calling her a bitch

[wakingfromthewater]

This was shared as a "bad" joke but I was so charmed by it I've been thinking about it for days.

[artistic-octopus]

[wordswithkittywitch]

Moose at the next table: No they don't. I've been waiting here for an hour.

[totally-not-an-al1en]

[shades-of-orange]

I see this sentiment of religion in fantasy often where people say that if "the gods" are walking around and you can physically interact w them and whatnot, then you don't have religion in the way you do in our world and everyone's gonna believe in the gods and faith is just irrelevant. and I gotta say that this is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what religion is

[blessthosewhocurseyou]

Superficially it makes sense but if you've ever seen the way theological debates go you know it'll take a bit more then that before humanity lands on that kind of complete agreement. In this universe, for example, there could plausibly be an ongoing and intense debate whether

a) humans, and

b) the gods themselves

have free will, what it would mean for them to have free will, under what circumstances free will is or isn't possible, and whether them having free will would ultimately be a good or not.

And they could have different religions which take various stances on this. There's a lot more to religion then the mere existence of a deity. That on its own is just theism. Religion involves a lot more teachings then that, and covers not only teachings but also religious practices of various kinds.

[bunniboiz]

"it's ok to show (x) in fiction as long as the bad guy gets punished!" the bad guy doesn't have to get punished. in fact the bad guy can win altogether. the bad guy can entirely get away with it. hope this helps

[bunniboiz]

and this part might make some people's head explode but: characters can be written to forgive things you personally wouldn't ever forgive. not everything is written as what you'd perceive to be the right choice. not everything is a self-insert & protagonists don't have to be relatable.

[torstherapy]

[anthraxofeffervescence]

The core conceit of Lord of the Rings is pretty funny. You are a twenty three year old in a suburb of Maine. The little bracelet in your grandpa’s attic has an inscription on it that is the password to the world’s entire nuclear arsenal. It is up to you to walk to the only hydraulic press in the world, located in Arizona, before the FBI finds the bracelet, kills you, and enslaves the suburb of Maine you currently live in

[anthraxofeffervescence]

Also the 90-year old hobo that your grandpa beat in a rap battle for possession of the bracelet while hiding from the Romanian secret police really loved the bracelet because it was coated in small amounts of LSD and tried to hunt and kill your grandpa to get it back. He was then apprehended by the FBI and instantly gave them your grandpa’s address. Seal Team Six is about to break down your door and shoot you, says your local congressman who can also do cool magic tricks

[bloodyraven1001]

There's a guy in NY who MIGHT be capable of destroying the codes but won't coz he simply wants to spend time with his wife. So it's up to your grandpa's old friend in rural Ohio to get you the friends capable of finishing the task.

[ariaste]

And we must not, at any point, remember the existence of aircraft and ask aloud why we can't just fly to Arizona

[horizon-penblade]

We can't use aircraft because the fbi has access to all the flight data how many times do we need to go over this

[rosefinchie]

how it all feels lately