#stumpy asks

[stumpyjoepete]

This is not a practical question (unless I end up sent back in time several hundred years and press-ganged into sailing the high seas), but is there any way to preserve vitamin C using regular home-cooking methods? It's very heat-sensitive, so canning or food-safe bottling methods seem likely to destroy it. (Note: the British navy rather famously did destroy all the vitamin C in their lime juice rations and simply failed to notice, since their ships were too fast to matter by then. This turned out extremely poorly for polar expeditions, where they actually needed their anti-scurvy measures to work.) Maybe lacto-fermented sauerkraut would work, but it's not clear to me how the vitamin C content holds up over time under realistic storage conditions (certainly much worse than the vitamin C numbers you'll see if you google "vitamin C sauerkraut" and credulously assume those numbers).

[stumpyjoepete]

Ok, I just finished this book. It was excellent. Highly informative on a variety of grammatical topics in Japanese. Offered some perspectives (e.g., switch-reference, animacy hierarchy) that are unheard of in Japanese language-learning materials but that resolve a lot of questions usually labeled as matters of "intuition". A+

Does anyone have any more recommendations of linguistics monographs they think are worth reading? My interest is mostly in Chinese and Japanese, but I could be convinced to take a look at topics outside of those.

something that’s interesting to me about japanese is that, while strictly speaking it lacks conjugation for person, it can end up conveying person indirectly though fairly explicitly through many of the grammatical structures related to politeness or quasi-politeness

take for example the verb hoshii*, which means “want to.”  in japanese it’s incorrect to make assertions about someone else’s state of mind (it’s unclear to me whether it’s grammatically incorrect or just very rude), so in declarative sentences hoshii tends to mean “I want”

to express what someone else wants, you can use the construction “hoshigaru,” which means something more like “seems to want”

so because of a rule which seems to be basically related to politeness, we end up with this pair of verbs which comes very close to expressing grammatical person

*yeah technically it’s an adjective they’re the same thing nbd

[kedreeva]

what will you plan for the amputee peacock?

Nothing, he's not my bird. Like I said, I am just babysitting him for a week while his new owner is out of town. If it were my decision, he would have been humanely euthanized as soon as he was in my hot little hands, because these birds can survive and be just fine without wings, and they can do alright for a while with one injured leg, but both feet being nearly gone is asking for a low quality of life overall. He will have trouble moving around and perching at night (it will stress him not to perch, and lead to bedsores type lesions on his keel), he will not be able to distribute his weight properly so he will have muscle and tendon issues that are likely painful, not to mention that his feet will also probably have lesions often because of the way his weight will sit. I wouldn't put a bird through that, but a lot of people feel that every life is so precious it must be preserved even if it means putting an animal through a low quality of life and causing them pain permanently.

When people talk about animal welfare, this is part of it: being able to let go when a kind death is actually in the animal's best interest. And a lot of people just do not know where to draw that line. They will say things like they "don't have the heart" to put the animal down and they mean they feel bad doing so, but what it actually means is that they are cowards who don't have the stomach to be caretakers for animals in the way the animals need. I don't have respect for these sorts of people. I think it's cruel to allow animal suffering because you have emotions you're not handling well.

Legally I cannot do anything with this bird except take care of him while he's here for a few days. I am unhappy that both his breeder and his new owner are the sort of people they are, and I feel very badly for this little dude, but I will do whatever I can for him elsewise until his owner picks him up again. And I'll continue to hope that she comes to her senses and lets him go, and if she won't, I will try to get her to consider some kind of prosthetic to help with some of the issues he'll have, and environmental accommodations to assist with the rest.

[istumpysk]

I know that all Jonsa are stupid with negative IQ but I think you can be the worst of all

As if I wouldn’t take pride in this.

[cutieclangen]

🪲 for Crowheart, Stumpy and Fawnstar

What do you value the most?

Thank you so much for the ask! Answered from this ask game here

[atopvisenyashill]

why do you think jonsa is happening tho? jonerys is different bc they are going to be enemies, but i don’t see what jonsa does for the story

so let me first lay out roughly what i think is going to happen should jonsa become canon. I personally love going down meta and graphic spirals, so I'm including links to other people’s theories/explanations/graphics of events too - also I would like to shout out @istumpysk because half these metas and gifsets were stuff I found on their blog initially, and also was the one who really convinced me that jonsa is less of a crackship and more of a contender for an actual canon theory, and from there i really found my niche in this fandom. specifically this meta about jon being the mummer's dragon is what pulled me out of my "we're never getting twow and if we do it's just gonna be that stupid dany has jon's magical baby while tyrion watches, then they all die theory" slump and lit my brain on fire again. let's goooo:

The Ashford Tourney Theory - Something Shady goes down at the tourney Petyr has planned that requires Sansa to make a quick getaway, and likely causes her to run into Brienne while fleeing. This theory for me is about hinting at Sansa's romantic future, allies, and how she's getting the hell out of the Vale: both the dark haired, Not Targ Looking Targ Prince that is the son of A Great Prince That Never Was being her romantic endgame but also it's about Brienne (/Dunk) getting her the hell out of there and becoming Sansa's number one ally and protector (with Sansa's number two being Bronze Yohn!! But he's not fleeing with her - if he helps her get out of the Vale, it'll be to cause a distraction or a fight so Sansa can slip away unnoticed. Bronze Yohn is coming with the knights of the Vale later to help defend his girl!).

The Girl In Grey - Out of options on where to go, Sansa & Brienne makes a long, fast, and dangerous trek to the only family she knows is still alive: Jon Snow at the Wall. No, I don't think Alys Karstark is the girl in grey on a dying horse; I think she's a red herring, the same as the scene where Sweetrobin destroys the snow castle, and that the real girl in grey (who slays the savage giant) is Sansa. Melisandre says that she sees "Jon's sister" but doesn't specify more than that, or how she knows it's Jon's sister, even - why would she assume Alys is Jon's sister and not some random Northern girl? Why was she so sure that it was his sister? It's because Alys isn't the girl in grey, it's Sansa, her horse dying because she's traveled halfway across the continent with Brienne and Pod, desperately trying to keep ahead of the dozens of people hunting her down.

The Blood of Winterfell - Sansa and Jon will reclaim winterfell together. This one is similar to above; just like Alys was a red herring, the scene where Sansa rebuilds the castle has a lot of foreshadowing (imo) but that isn't the moment in the prophecy Arya hears. The Savage Giant is Littlefinger, the castle of snow is Winterfell, and Sansa is going to liberate her home alongside Jon and what's left of the Northern lords.

Stone and Snow Remains - THIS is where Sansa and Jon will fall in love while fighting for the North. This is also the part where you lose a lot of people, because they think the evidence is real weak sauce but like, I also think the Jonerys "evidence" is weak af too (and no wonder, we have at minimum 2k pages left to get through!!). There's several believed foreshadowing points to this one, bare with me for this weird ass formatting because I can't do sub bullet points on tumblr:

1. Sansa's linking of snow with love and affection - "drifting snowflakes brushed her face as light as lover’s kisses, and melted on her cheeks...She could feel the snow on her lashes, taste it on her lips. It was the taste of Winterfell. The taste of innocence. The taste of dreams." along with her snow maiden and snow knight.

2. Bael the Bard and the Rose of Winterfell - the chapter where Sansa gets her period for the first time, Cersei refers to it as “flowering” a dozen times, linking being a maiden (a young girl, not quite of age or just barely of age) to flowers and several people refer to sex as ~plucking. Also notice the one who stole her from KL is Lord BAELish.

3. Aemon the Dragonknight & Queen Naerys - Sansa compares herself to Naerys, Joffrey to Aegon, and wishes for an Aemon, among the many similarities between her life and Naerys'. Jon not only calls himself Aemon, he has a deep connection with a different Aemon Targaryen. And if you’re thinking “Sansa isn’t Naerys, X is Naerys” I would remind you that Sansa as a character existed first, George purposefully had her compare herself to Naerys, and parallels don't belong to just one character.

4. Jenny of Oldstones and The Prince of Dragonflies - there's honestly a lot of parallels between them but like the Aemon/Naerys parallel, the Jenny/Duncan one stands out to me.

5. Janos Slynt - I mean. Iconic. This was the scene that made me first think about what their relationship could be in the future and there’s a reason Jonsas fixate on it. It’s about Sansa being desperate for a hero and the hero she dreamed about being Jon the whole time. 6. Societal Alienation - There's the bastard parallels here, the "it would be so sweet to see him again", the "Winterfell belongs to my sister, Sansa." It's about how Jon, through circumstances of his birth, finds himself alienated from the rest of society and reconnects with his prim and proper sister Sansa, who finds herself alienated from the rest of society as well but for vastly different reasons.

Robb’s Will - Howland is going to show up in the North, along with Maege and Galbert, with some WILD news about why Jon can’t rule Winterfell. There’s a lot of contention around this. Bran probably shows up around this time too, and Arya gets to the Riverlands to discover Lady Stoneheart and give her the gift of mercy. This is where all the inheritance stuff is going to happen and I have no idea how it's going to go down besides it's going to be messy as all fuck.

The Pact Of Ice And Fire - Jon & Sansa get secret married bc they’re in love, not siblings, & jon is the only man she trusts not to steal her claim. This isn't the only possible foreshadowing instance of a marriage either - some believe the Sandor/Sansa scene during the Battle of the Blackwater is foreshadowing as well (personally I feel that's a bit of a stretch but I wanted to include it anyway).

Jon As An Envoy - I talked about this in my "what's Jon's ending" a little but I believe Jon will act as an envoy for either Sansa or Bran to Aegon VI, essentially playing out a similar story that he does in the show with Daenerys. By which I mean, Jon is not the King because the ruler themselves do not go as an envoy, that’s stupid and dangerous, but he goes as an ambassador for Sansa or Bran, to treat with a new claimant to the Iron Throne that is gaining support - Aegon VI & Jon Connington. They will probably clash, Jon will probably have yet another identity crisis, there had BETTER be gay incest subtext, then Aegon dies, and Jon has his sixth quarter life crisis in a row.

“King” of the Gift - again, something I touched on in my Jon meta is that I think he’s going to have a hand in resettling the Gift. Personally, I think it's likely that Jon leaves to protect the claims of his siblings (see: Duncan and Jenny) and goes to the Gift to help resettle it to keep out of the way. This ending is typically referred to as the "bael the bard" ending but i like to think of it as the "brandon's gift" ending instead - though he is not physically with his family, Jon feels fulfilled having confirmed his family loves him through reclaiming Winterfell and marrying Sansa, being reunited with Arya, and being given the Gift by Bran. Sansa claims her children were fathered by a wolf.

So…what does all this do for the story?

Well, in my opinion, several things.

I think the main barrier here is that most people in the greater fandom describe Sansa's story as ~growing past childish wants~ and Jon's as ~rejecting love~ and I do not agree with either of those takes even a little bit. This is where (imo) the dividing line between Jonsas and the rest of the fandom is. I don’t think the answer to Sansa’s question “will anyone ever marry me for love” is going to be “nah" - that's not just a sad story to me (wanting to be married isn't childish! craving intimacy and understanding isn't childish! it's also not wrong for a child to be childish!), I think the idea that Sansa (or Jon) will not find another love just doesn't line up with how George approaches his story. Who Sansa's husband will be has been such a big question, and her story is so heavy into the more romantic tropes like courtly love and chivalry and the line between politics and love and identity, that the question of Sansa's hand in marriage will be plot relevant. I also think it's kinda naive of people to pretend like George isn't very interested in the sexual dynamics of the characters he writes about (yeah, sure, no woman needs a man but "needing a man" is not what this is about. look at everything this man wrote in F&B and tell me he is going to write a female character that longs for sex and desire and doesn't get it!).

After AGOT, nearly every time Sansa thinks about marriage involves her longing for love but believing she will never get it because a man will only ever love her for her claim. Giving her a man - like Jon - who not only will not steal her claim and in fact has defended it twice over already, who will love her for who she is and not what she can give him, is a really important aspect of her story in my opinion.

As for Jon, I am even more firmly against the opinion that his story is about rejecting love; Jon’s story is about wanting to be a good man, to measure up to his father ~despite~ his bastard blood. When Aemon asks if Ned would choose honor over love and Jon stubbornly says yes, Jon is wrong and it’s important to not forget that. Ned has never once in his entire life chosen honor over love; he chooses his daughter’s life over his honor, he chooses his sister & her son’s life over honor, he chooses Arya & Nymeria over honor, and on and on!!! Ned chooses love at almost turn but none of his children know that just yet - look at Robb choosing Jeyne’s honor over his own and how upset he is at the idea that Ned would be disappointed despite the fact that Ned would have understand Robb’s decision! Jon's whole arc is tied up in realizing that it is not wrong or dirty to feel and choose love, passion, and desire and if he never has another romantic arc again, I think you lose the second part of that lesson which is "you are responsible for how you act when you feel love but that doesn't mean that simply choosing love makes you a bad person."

There's also the fact that George has talked a lot about "who lives, who dies, who gets married" and yet we have not one marriage at the end of the show AND there's not a lot of guesses at what "who gets married" means besides Jon/erys (and even if Jonsa doesn't happen, I simply do not see Jon/erys happening. they are not similar enough, they will not be in the same space for long enough, and they are on wildlly different trajectories for their story, they are not getting married let alone having sex). I think Jonsa fits that bill very well.

These various theories - from Sansa being queen, Jon living in exile, The Ashford Tourney Theory, the secret marriage, every one of them - are ideas and themes that I have really been thinking about for about 12 years now. I think Jon and Sansa's relationship could fit with the themes in their stories, the overarching themes in the books, and my own personal opinions. I think it gives George a great opportunity to delve into the courtly love aspects he enjoys so much, as well as delve into inheritance, legacy, legitimacy, honor, incest (yes, that too), and above all, what George himself has said the whole series is about - love. The human heart in conflict with itself is what I think Jon and Sansa as a romantic couple does for the series.

[fablepatron]

half life request: crab of your choice

This is my best friend hevcrab zombie 👍

[aelirus]

Have this stupid dragon I spent way too much time making

"This is completely irrelevant to me and I don't care."

... But Mildew thinks its pretty cool.

[itsbasil]

14 from the ask game for the members of your special squad of freaks :o)

(Here's a link to the ask game!)

14. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be? 

oh my god it's stumpy my good friend stumpy hi hello

okay since Alphabet Team has 12 (later 13) members I am not going to do this for all of them and will simply do it for Alphabet Team's "big four", Rain, James, Sage, and Jazz.

Rain:

I am your shield. I am your sword. The kind of leader Rain is admired and loved for being and the kind of leader Rain was raised to believe she has to be have a significant amount of overlap, but are two different things. The latter is a shape Rain cannot fit herself into without it eventually killing her.

The heart wants. So much of what Rain does when she's not actively leading is trying to make herself feel comfortable and safe with the people she cares about, but she would never admit this and is extremely practiced at denying that that's what she needs from people.

James:

Bastard, not bully. James is always looking for opportunities to wisecrack, fuck with people, and generally be a bit of a menace because he's big and scary and can get away with stuff, but he's not a bully. He might be bullheaded and competitive and have a bit of main character syndrome, but he will not compromise people trusting him enough to let him do his job.

A heavy door, slightly ajar. James is an incredibly smart, thoughtful, sensitive dork unfortunately shaped by the fact that he's perhaps the most fearsome corporate Spartan currently living; He's an imposing specter of hyper-competence, titanium, and wit, unable to help or notice that he's bursting at the seams with the perverse animal desire to simply be liked and perhaps even valued.

Sage:

All the world's a stage. Sage is always trying to fill a role and accentuate the people around them no matter the situation. This is part of why they try to pick apart who their teammates are so much; Sage wants to figure out who they are so she can figure out who she has to be in the moment. Alone, Sage has only faint, fleeting ideas of who they actually are.

Stray dog, lightly kicked. Sage was separated from a Spartan they were a bonded pair with, Cato, and this was incredibly harmful to both of them and haunts their every waking moment. Sage's tone might almost always be sincere, lighthearted, and generally energetic, but without Cato they're hypervigilant and subconsciously searching for some kind of reassurance that everything is okay. There is always something wrong with Sage, because there's supposed to be two of them.

Jazz:

Mirror, mirror. Jazz and Sage share a lot of traumas and neuroses, but while those have had very different effects on them as people, they're both ultimately looking for the same thing. Jazz is also frequently nervous and seeking reassurance, but this is hidden behind Jazz putting up walls of dry, standoffish sarcasm and wit that she built over grueling years of bouncing from team to team without ever being useful enough to keep.

Sharing is caring. Jazz is a little strange because she has hobbies and interests that aren't standard for a Spartan to have, which still aren't enough for her to smoothly interact with regular people. If Jazz likes someone or wants to test the waters and be closer to them, she always expresses this through sharing an interest of hers with them, inviting them to do something with her, or similar. This doesn't happen lightly.

[stumpyjoepete]

Another movie I've seen but can't remember the name of (see prev):

Centered around an Evil Tome™. I don't remember if it's supposed to be a lost occult tome like the Necronomicon or if it was supposed to be like the diary of someone who died in some horrible way.

Once you start reading it, you're kind of screwed. Occult things start happening. You're probably gonna die. Etc. Etc.

But also, there's information in the book (from past readers?) that may assist you with surviving it. So you have to keep reading, even though it's making things worse.

One memorable bit is that there's a swinging hook or something that you need to avoid getting impaled on at some point.

The main character does succeed at finishing the book and surviving (and maybe is the first to have done so?), but the book then gets passed on to some future victim.

[fried-trash]

MAN I LOVE GAY PEOPLE... 2!!!

[kedreeva]

You mentioned giving your guest a bath - is that something pheasants take to easily? So they like the water, or being handled? Or is it like wrangling a toddler, and only done when absolutely necessary?

It honestly depends on the bird. He didn't really appreciate it, but once he figured out it was not going to kill him he laid down in the water and let his keel and feet soak.

Some birds, like Artemis, loooooove baths. She would lay down and pull her feet up and float around in the warm water like an inflatable pool toy. She'd complain when I took her out, until I got her to the towels, and then she loooooved "dust bathing" in the towels to dry off, and would stand in front of the heat vent preening after. That girl was truly happy about bath time.

Bug isn't a huge fan of bath time, mostly because she doesn't like me scrubbing her feet, but she also doesn't freak out about it, and she isn't afraid of water. If I dump a bunch of water into a bin outside, she's right there trying to climb into it as I'm pouring.

Eris, her sister, is ALWAYS getting into the water bowl in the summer to cool down and drink. I've had birds lay eggs in the water bowl before. But they don't get into the pond on purpose. They'll play with the hose all day though, and sometimes they'll stand out in the rain and get sopping wet, so it's not like they entirely mind being wet, either. Other times, they'll all stay in the coop and just watch the rain like hmm no thanks.

So, it really depends. Bathing fowl isn't really something that usually NEEDS to be done, and it's usually their idea of a great time even if some find they enjoy it. Wet feathers mean thermoregulation is tanked until they are dry again, so it sucks for them if it's cold or hot and they can't regulate themselves, which is why you don't really WANT to have to do it unless you have to.

[catofoldstones]

hi again

the jonsa heir theory is something ive been going back and forth on, one hand it goes with the bittersweet ending and reversal jonnel/sansa I parallels at the same time sansa's inheritance only being valid by a heir feels a bit like cheating, elizabeth the first type ending also struck my mind for her,what are your thoughts?

I genuinely don’t think Sansa’s inheritance will be valid only if she produces an heir. I think it has more to do with the fact that she’s the oldest Stark. Sure fertility plays a role in succession but I don’t feel like she’ll need to produce an heir by the age of 14 to be declared the lady of Winterfell. “Winterfell belongs to my sister Sansa” regardless of whether she has babies or not. On top of that, how is George going to present a 14 year old child bride having a child herself in a good light. It goes directly against what he tried to show with Dany. It’s the same thing as Bran though. How is he going to present a good 11 year old king when he tried to do the opposite with Joffrey. I still bite my teeth over why George had to scrap the five year gap.

I, too, like an Elizabeth I type of ending. A will set aside. Someone deposed someone and then themselves died to make Elizabeth the last Tudor monarch. I will take that over 14 year old Sansa having a baby.

[istumpysk]

The day the dudebros on ASOIAF reddit learn that half the posts they write on there are not 'theories' just headcanons they can use to plot out fanfic is the day I will know peace. Unironically I believe a lot of those people would be happier just reading and writing fanfic because they won't ever get what they want from Martin soooo.

I can't stand that shit. Nothing irritates me more than fanfiction masquerading as an evidence-based theory.

If your own words are compensating for the absence of textual evidence, your theory is bad.

[cutieclangen]

for brackenpaw: 🎯🌲

for fawnstar: 🙀🍀

for the clan: 🗣️👑

for you: 💘❤️

love love love cutieclan....... your style lives up to the name!!

-boughclan-clangen

Brackenpaw Answers:

Fawnstar Answers:

Clan Answers:

🗣️ Which cat is the biggest gossip in the clan?

Absolutely Mousethorn and Beechbriar! I mean, just look at this picture of them from when they were apprentices. They're definitely talking smack about some cat :b

The catch is, Beechbriar takes her position as a mediator very seriously and would never spread around rumors or sensitive information, so she only talks gossip with Mousethorn, who is sworn to secrecy. Now.. if the gossip originates from Mousethorn and not Beechbriar... her other siblings and a few of her close friends will also hear about it!

👑 Your leader and deputy disappear into thin air, who takes over?

If both Fawnstar and Alderfur go poof, Sanddapple would step in to lead the Clan. He's one of the senior warriors and as Fawnstar's mate he already kinda has a position of power, and the rest of the Clan would support him wholeheartedly. Sandstar would then choose Haybrook as his deputy, another cat that is a well respected senior warrior with plenty of experience and a cool head.

For me: 💘 Any cats you ship? Any non-canon / crackship / oddball pairs?

I ship Stinkbutt and Stumpy! They only have platonic feelings for each other in game, but I think they would make a really cute couple :3 I also ship a bunch of future couples.. but I will not spoil any :3c

❤️ Which character does the audience seem to love that you weren’t expecting?

This one I already answered previously, but I'll also say I am surprised Stumpy has been getting a lot more love as well. I can understand it though with what he's been through lately!

Thank you so much for all the questions @boughclan-clangen you’re so cool <33 Answered from the ask game found here

[chiprewington]

question. Is chipbus a separate entity to chip revvington

It is now.