âscientists donât want you knowâ is a phrase that always cracks me up because if you actually meet a scientist they will be shaking and crying like an overstimulated chihuahua with the need to let you know
Things that happen in Dawntrail that sound like shitposts:
You are invited to meddle in the affairs of a major political power. These events with extremely serious ramifications for global politics include gardening, animal herding, mountain climbing, and a bake-off.
Night City travels diagonally through time and fuses with a small town in Arizona.
An uplifting Hollywood movie pop-gospel song about unity plays over a montage of you and your friends building a bomb.
You down a suspiciously beaver-themed energy drink and briefly go super saiyan.
The temporally anomalous catboy dad deepthroats two scoops of nothing-flavored ice cream in an attempt to ease the tension at his work friend's family reunion. Somehow, this actually achieves the desired effect.
An AI-generated ghost attempts to burn all of the world's people and resources to extend the life of their metaverse Disneyland for other AI-generated ghosts. In response, you proceed to fight a robotic biblically-accurate angel inside their mind palace.
Terry Pratchett's take on The Little Matchgirl in The Hogfather is both devastating and incredibly up lifting. Here's the thing, I've read The Little Matchgirl too many times and thought, 'hey, that's kind of fucked up. Why didn't anyone save her?'
Only to get told that 'oh, it's a tragic little story that's supposed to remind you to be grateful for what you have and also to show you the horrors of poverty. At least she's in a happier place now.'
And none of that ever sat quite right with me.
But Pratchett calls this out. He has Death ask the question of why no one came to help, about the reasoning behind letting this little girl die just for a sad story. It's poverty porn and also complacency in a systemic issue.
He doesn't leave you there though. Something is done to save her. Something is done to help. She is given a future. And no one knows who did it except for Death. She is given hope.
And this is something that I've found to be a through line on many of Pratchett's works, hope.
Yes things are fucked up. Yes things are awful. But there is always hope. There is always something that can be done.
And in just turning up your nose at an issue and saying, oh dear, that's very sad, you fail to take action and continue on with the problem year after year after year.
There is hope if we act. And there is no greater gift than a future.
Thereâs a theory that early Europeans started saying âbrown oneâ or âhoney-eaterâ instead of âbearâ to avoid summoning them, and similarly my friend has started calling Alexa âthe faceless womanâ because saying her true name awakens her from her slumber
English has an avoidance register used in the presence of certain respected animals, which sounds fancy until you realize itâs spelling out w-a-l-k and t-r-e-a-t in front of the dog.
Iceland does! They are the illhveli, literally âevil whalesâ, and they live to kill you. They love nothing more than killing and eating humans and sinking their ships. Their greatest enemy is the steypireydur (thatâs blue whale to you), which is the greatest of the good whales and the protector of sailors.
All evil whales are, well, evil. So evil that if you speak their name at sea, they will hear it and home in on you. So instead you use all sorts of euphemisms for their names. Also if you try to cook their meat it literally disappears from the pot. Thatâs right, theyâre so evil, you canât even eat them.
They include such types as the hrosshvalur (horsewhale), with big eyes and a red mane and tail. This is probably the best known and most feared of the lot.
The raudkembingur (redcomb) is especially cruel and bloodthirsty even by illhveli standards. If you manage to escape it, it will die of frustration.
Good luck escaping the mushveli (mousewhale) though, it has legs! And will clamber onto the beach in pursuit!
Or what about death from above? The stĂśkkull (jumper) leaps high into the air and pile-drives boats to pieces.
Meanwhile the skeljungur (shellwhale) sits in the path of boats and lets them get wrecked on its shelly hideâŚ
⌠while the sverdhvalur (swordwhale) slices through boats with its dorsal fin.
The katthveli (catwhale) is relatively harmless though. It meows.
The same canât be said of the lyngbakur (heatherback), a classic island fish that lets sailors get on its back and then dives, taking them to a watery grave.
The nauthveli (oxwhale) on the other hand specially targets cattle, attracting them into the sea with its bellow before tearing them apart.
How can you avoid all these murderous whales, like the taumafiskur (bridlefish) here? Any of a number of ways, including getting a steypireydur to help. There are substances, ranging from angelica to sheep dung and chopped fox testicles, that they find abhorrent. And you can distract them with loud noises and barrels.
For more, I assure you this link will answer all your questions.
This is also why fairies were referred to as the âGood Neighborsâ and why there are so many nicknames for Satan.
The concept of avoidance speech is endlessly fascinating and rife with plot points for writing, but honestly Iâm just thrilled about the EVIL WHALES.
it's funny how "press F to pay respects" was such a gigantic meme that it seems to have permanently affected the way we talk online. people use it completely genuinely and unironically. had a bad day? F. died in a videogame? F. I see it constantly in Discord, Twitch and ingame chats. like it's actually being used as common shorthand. when it only gained prominence because of how hilariously stupid this screenshot is
gummygunk
jbbartram-illu
prguitarman
pixelskylines
theartofmadeline
