bison64

[bison64]

Is it just me or is the craziest thing about the whole Tiger King situation the large cats?!?!

[bison64]

[bison64]

the number 87 kinda looks like a plague doctor

[bison64]

[bison64]

Tasty Ramen is a hilarious PS1 styled Japanese horror game full of Anime goodness, set in a grocery store haunted by a murderous bowl of ramen!

Read More & Play The Beta, Free (Windows)

[bison64]

me: i study linguistics

everyone over the age of 40: oh good u can sort out all those uneducated people who don’t speak properly!

me:

[bison64]

why are french people rude?

Ah well, the safest explanation when an entire country’s people are stereotyped as rude is that they have their own culture with different criteria for politeness than the ones you are used to. It’s probably easier for Americans to forget this than for the rest of the world, because they consume less foreign media than the rest of us (from literature in translation to foreign films) and are less exposed to aspects of foreign cultures that could inform them about different norms of politeness (online interactions happen in their own language and follow their own (anglo) social codes.) With this insular worldview it's easy to take it for granted that American good manners are universal. They are not!

A very common gripe against American tourists in Paris is that they talk so loudly in public spaces, which is definitely rude here but I assume that in the US, people just have a different threshold for what constitutes 'loud' (I wonder if it is due to being used to having more space than Europeans). I also remember a discussion I had with one of my translation professors about the American concept of ‘active listening’ and how negatively it is perceived in France. It may be that in the US it is polite to make 'listening noises' at regular intervals while someone is speaking to you, ‘uh huh’, ‘right’, ‘yeah’, ‘really?’, and that you would perceive someone who just stands there silently as disinterested or thinking about something else. In France it is more polite to shut up and listen (with the occasional nod or ‘mmh’) and it's rather seen as annoying and rude to make a bunch of useless noise while someone is speaking.

There are of course countless examples like that. The infamous rude waiters in Parisian cafés probably seem a lot more rude and cold to people who have a different food culture... People from other cultures might consider a waiter terrible at his job if he doesn’t frequently check on them to make sure they don’t wait for anything, but the idea that a meal is a pleasant experience rather than just a way to feed yourself (esp when eating out) means we like having time to chat and just enjoy our table for a while, so we don’t mind as much waiting to order or for the next course. French people would typically hate if an overzealous waiter took the initiative to bring the note once we’re done with our meal so we don’t have to wait for it, as it would be interpreted as “you’re done, now get out of my restaurant.”

The level of formality required to be polite is quite high in France, which might contribute to French people being seen as rude by people with a more casual culture. To continue with waiters, even in casual cafés they will address clients with the formal you and conversely, and won’t pretend to be your friend (the fact that we don’t have the American tip culture also means they don’t feel the need to ingratiate themselves to you.) I remember being alarmed when a waitress in New York introduced herself and asked how I was doing. “She’s giving me her first name? What... am I supposed to with it? Use it?” It gave me some insight on why Americans might consider French waiters rude or sullen! It might also be more accepted outside of France to customise your dish—my brother worked as a waiter and often had to say “That won't be possible” about alterations to a dish that he knew wouldn’t fly with the chef, to foreign tourists who were stunned and angry to hear that, and probably brought home a negative opinion of French waiters. In France where the sentiment in most restaurants is more “respect the chef's skill” than “the customer is king”, people are more likely to be apologetic if they ask for alterations (beyond basic stuff) as you can quickly be seen as rude, even by the people you are eating with. 

And I remember reading on a website for learning English that the polite answer to “How are you?” is “I’m fine, thank you!” because it’s rude to burden someone you aren’t close to with your problems. In my corner of the French countryside the polite thing to do is to complain about some minor trouble, because saying everything is going great is perceived negatively, as boasting, and also as a standoffish reply that kind of shuts down the conversation, while grumbling about some problem everyone can relate to will keep it going. (French people love grumbling as a positive bonding activity!)

Basically, before you settle on the conclusion that people from a different place are collectively rude, consider that if you travel there and scrupulously follow your own culture's social code of good manners, you might be completely unaware that you are being perceived as obnoxious, rude or unfriendly yourself simply because your behaviour clashes with what is expected by locals.

[bison64]

straight people shut up challenge

[bison64]

Hello! I had been debating whether or not to get Katamari but was put off by the demo. You commented not to judge the game based on the demo; could you please explain? The thing I didn't like about the demo was the controls, which others have echoed. Thank you!

man, i wish i could find a good way to like. explain all this but i’m shit at gathering thoughts lmao. i will try.i will do my best.

basically, part of the challenge of katamari, is controls. i know what you’re thinking like “why would difficult controls be a fun challenge?” but it is! controlling a giant ball of mass wouldn’t be an easy task. they emulate this by basically, having your movements on the analog sticks control the prince’s arm movements. as if you were rolling a ball.

the big thing that makes the demo SHIT is the full game has a TUTORIAL. a stage where they teach you how to do things. how to turn, how to rotate, how to do quick movements, how to jump. and these controls are SUPER hard to figure out just guessing. does that mean the game is easy to control after the tutorial? NO WAY. there’s a learning curve, but that curve is MASSIVELY more manageable when you’re told the bare minimum of how to use them. will you still struggle in the early levels? absolutely. it has complicated controls, i’m normally a big fan of “Invisible Tutorials” in games. it just wouldn’t work for katamari. 

but it is one of the most fun and rewarding games i’ve ever played to get better at. and it doesn’t even take that long to get a grasp on it. by the later levels, you’ll be feeling way more confident in your skills, and that’s where the game opens up.

the main premise of Katamari is you roll up small objects to make your katamari bigger, after rolling up a certain amount of things, you then get bigger yourself, and old obstacles become little objects you just add to your growing ball of funky stuff. it’s RIDICULOUSLY addicting to all the sudden have the power to consume things you’d bump off of just a couple seconds ago.and it just keeps stacking and stacking until you’re rolling up WHOLE buildings and trees in some levels.even further than that, but i won’t spoil it. 

AND THEN, once you’ve got a grasp on the game, you go back to the early levels only to discovered there’s a HUGE amount of the level you never saw! tons of objects and things you can pick up and roll around on that you never saw because you never got big enough. there’s so much replay-abilty in the base games, and it’s so fun to replay levels seeing how big you can get your katamari.

i seriously can with confidence say anyone who disliked the demo will have an entirely new grasp on the game 

HELL. download the demo right now and watch this video on the tutorial (it’s for ps4 but it should translate okay to switch) while playing around in the first level. see if that helps at all. i really think the biggest fuck up they could have done was not including the tutorial in the demo. they REALLY really assume you’ve played Katamari before. it’s a giant slap in the face to newcomers.

oh, also. there’s simplified control options in the full game, if you want them lol. though i highly recommended learning the defaults. 

all i can say is while it’s $10, i think it’s worth a shot. it’s a really special game with a lot of charm and things to enjoy. i wish i could just, buy it for everyone on the fence that’s how confident i am the demo was a poor introduction.

[bison64]

yall did raymond animal crossing so dirty

you did the expected, got horny for him and turned the poor accountant kitty in a maid suit catboy when he had the potential for something as grand as this

[bison64]

what ‘academia is inaccessible’ means: much academic writing is financially difficult to acquire and also a lot of it builds on context and area of study-specific vocabulary that the author expects you to already be familiar with, making it difficult to ‘break in’ 

what y’all think it means: if you expect me to have any sort of background knowledge for what i’m talking about or want me to read a word with more than three syllables you want all poor disabled people to die

[bison64]

Some more Bob since he’s a hot topic in my inbox right now!!!

[bison64]

Hello, lovelies! I’ve gotten a couple of asks about studying so I decided to condense them into one post for you guys! I’m trying to hit a bunch of different topics so if you need an even more specific post you can send an ask! Without any further ado, have some tips! My studyblr is @spacey-scholar​

Prep

First, you always need a good base for your day! Especially if you’re studying a lot.

Make a good full breakfast! Ex. Eggs and Toast, Smoothie and fruit, Pancakes and a cup of juice. 

How’s your hygiene? Do you need to shower, brush your teeth, wash your face, condition your hair? Do it! You’ll be distracted if you feel messy!

Get dressed like it’s a normal day. Staying in PJ’s is okay! But being ready for the day seriously helps focus!

Likewise, your space should be clean. A clean space is a clean mind! Remove dishes, trash, scrap paper, and extra items. Wide down your desk, organize your pens and books. Your space should feel like your space!

Now make a list of what you need to get done! What needs to be done Now, what needs to be done Soon, and what needs to be done Later? 

Order your list how you want your day to go, and don’t put super-tough subjects back to back, or subjects that are similar exercises i.e. reading thirty pages of two different books back to back is no fun.

The Studying

It’s important to buckle down with No Distractions! If you find yourself distracted put your phone away! If you need your phone, put it on Do Not Disturb until you’re done. I also do this at night for better sleep. 

Pick the best technique for you, Pomodoro, reward-based, group studying, etc.

Play music but only if it will not distract you! If you sing along or daydream it’s the wrong music! Classical, Lo-fi, and White noise are all good! My Spotify Here has some good ones.

Use a nice journal (I don’t mean expensive!) and pens/pencils you enjoy using. I like to have a specific journal and color dedicated to each subject. 

Take notes on recorded lectures and classes, if you’re doing online classes right now try to screen record or record the audio! That way if you space out you can play it later and take notes, and you can absorb the lesson better instead of being distracted.

Don’t worry about your notes, stationary, pictures, being beautiful and your grades being perfect. Life doesn’t always look the way it does on Instagram. And the people who spend hours trying to get a good photo of their coffee are not studying! 

Use flashcards! Quizlet is good if you need premade ones! If you can save up and buy them, Barrons AP Flash Cards are the best in my opinion. Very clean, not too long, very durable, and cover all subjects.

Feeling Distracted 

If you catch yourself drifting off and getting into your head, get up and take a quick walk, stretch, or energizer. 

It’s okay if this happens, don’t guilt yourself! practice affirmation. The best and smartest still get distracted. 

If you are drifting, why? Are you hungry? Tired? Thirsty? Bored? Get a snack and some water, take a break and rest, find a way to make your studying more enjoyable. 

Remember that Motivation and Discipline are different things. Sometimes we just won’t be motivated, we won’t want to do it and it will be rather frustrating. But the cure to this is not shaming its discipline. Remind yourself “This may be hard, and I may not want to do this, but I want to reach my goals and If this is what It takes I will make it happen. 

Always do just one more page of you’re tired. One at a time and oh you did it! Maybe just one more? One more? Eh, one more just to finish the train of thought, Oh just- I’m done? Nice!

If you really can’t focus just move on and come back to this subject, you can always ask for help.

Supplementary Things

There are so many apps you can use to study, for free! My favorites are Tide, Quizlet, Focus Keeper, Forest, Flora, Egenda, SpanishDict, Photomath, and Kahn Academy. 

You can also join a study group! You may know one, but if you don’t, there are a lot of online ones! I’m in a study Discord and have been for a while! it helps a lot and motivates me to finish my work!

You can make a studyblr, but don’t do it just for the aesthetics! It’s about studying, and sometimes that gets messy! Sometimes we fail a test, we spill our tea on our notes, we cry because we don’t understand the formula. That’s the part you don’t see!

Having cute stationery can really help, as well as nice organizers and decorations for your space! I don’t have much money so I get a lot of stuff on Amazon or FB Marketplace.

Health

Remember that no matter what you are good enough. It’s okay if you fail, it’s okay if you struggle.

It’s also okay if your path doesn’t go the way you expected! Maybe you go to a different school than expected! Or choose a trade instead! Maybe you take a gap year! Maybe your passion changes! Maybe it changes six times!

Your health is always more important than your school. If you are in pain, mentally or physically, if you are anxious, exhausted, burnt out, talk to your teachers about it! You matter more than a grade.

Your best is good enough! And your best doesn’t look the same as someone else’s best! Don’t compare!

Now go get out there and study!

[bison64]

Mindfulness can be useful for literally E V E R Y O N E, but I found it particularly helpful for anxiety– this exercise got me out of the house and functioning again.   °˖✧*•  Shop, Patreon, Book, Mailing List *•. ✧˖°`

[bison64]

im like. shocked and appalled i havent seen anyone do this yet. 

[bison64]

imagine going to college for four years and spending thousands of dollars in tuition to do surface level thematic analysis of a children's book series and then saying you pioneered a field of study

[bison64]

as soon as I step out of my comfort zone my art disintegrates, aaaaaaa