#But that is for ... another day

[sadclowncentral]

lew can i please ask. what is untoasted toast? like bread specifically intended to become toast but without being toasted? toast that’s not warm anymore? something else? im fascinated by the concept

I understand that we are facing a cultural translation issue at play here. Listen. i grew up in Germany, where the word bread MEANS something. This is toast:

I would never, in a million years, call this bread. It's toast. Ontologically. No matter its state of heating. It's toastedness does not affect its toastness because it has not crossed the grain event horizon to call itself bread. THIS is bread:

do you see how these are two different categories of wheat-based products. untoasted toast is a toast that has not been toasted. which can never be bread because bread requires a certain. bread-like quality that toast cannot have. you understand

[janniksins]

I try to be tough, but I wanna scream sincaraz x the grudge (olivia rodrigo)

[blooming-periwxnkle]

If there is something I would have loved to see in TGCF, it would have been a female Supreme.

The biggest reason behind this is obviously the fact that ghosts are associated with Yin energy. Which is said to be feminine in nature.

In Chinese philosophy, the feminine or negative principle (characterized by dark, wetness, cold, passivity, disintegration, etc.) of the two opposing cosmic forces into which creative energy divides and whose fusion in physical matter brings the phenomenal world into being.

But, aside from this. I think that the whole excitation (?) that the ghosts get before the opening of Mt Tonglu could also be read as a metaphor for periods.

This is how the book describes the excitation of ghosts:

Just then, waves of hellish howls and cries sounded from outside Thousand Lights Temple. Ghosts were doubling over on the street, bawling their eyes out as they clutched their heads and wailed. They sounded like their skulls were splitting open, like they were on the verge of death.

It kinda reminds me of how men tend to see menstruation as well or the way they describe female 'hysteria' to enforce their misogynistic ideas upon women. Like, a satire of sorts..

But, aside from this, the 'ghosts' are more earthly as compared to Gods, just like how females were considered to be more connected to earth.

The gods created heaven to reside in, drawing a clear boundary between themselves and mortals. They watched from above and ruled from beyond reach. The Ghost Realm, on the other hand, was not separated from the Mortal Realm. Monsters, demons, ghosts, and mortals all shared one earth. Some ghosts hid in the darkness, and some pretended to be humans as they walked among the people and roamed the Mortal Realm in disguise.

When humans ascend, they become Gods. When humans fall, they become ghosts.

Historically, since cis men did not experience it, they often labeled menstruation as something wicked and evil. It is also why they viewed menstruating women as impure and often imposed restrictions on them and did not allow them to visit sacred places.

Even though it is emphasized that both ghosts and gods are ultimately human, ghosts are the ones who 'fall'. The ones who are not able to move on and let go of their obsessions.

I am yapping too much now, so forgive me. Moving on, both the Supremes in the story were known with a title that was given to them by others. Hua Cheng got his after destroying Qi Rong's lair, while He Xuan got his after he started to sink the ships that entered his dominion. Their identity was bestowed upon them by others. They were the ones who defined those two.

Additionally, their identities are also made with respect to the two 'gods' . Both Hua Cheng and He Xuan's titles are also references to Xie Lian and Shi Wudu. Their relation with these two is taken as the defining point of their identity as Supremes, not their personalities and how they are as people.

Hua Cheng was not taken seriously by the gods he challenged. They thought he was some random ghost. Even after he defeated them, they did not uphold their end of the bargain until Hua Cheng burned their temples. Same with He Xuan- they knew he was lowkey, so they never paid attention to him until they came to know about his infiltration.

It kind of reminds me of how cis men don't tend to take women or even trans men seriously due to misogyny. They consider them to be inferior until they 'prove' something to them that could command their respect.

More about the Mt Tonglu thing. Menstruation is said to have evolved as a mechanism to protect placental mammals. To protect the mothers from unfavorable pregnancies. Every ghost enters the kiln in order to reach the level of Supreme. Those who manage to come out of the kiln reach the devastation level, and as a result, they are affected the most by its opening. And, in order to conserve their strength, they turn into a younger version of themselves or go into hibernation.

These are..well, the reasons I would have liked if there was a female Supreme, but since there isn't...we'll let our minds do the job.

My apologies for the incoherence. I was talking to a mutual about how the tgcf characters would react to period cramps, and neither of us could think much about Hua Cheng and He Xuan at all, and then my mind wandered off to this.

P.S. If I said smth wrong, please be nice and let me know, I'll correct it.

[helmarok]

neji and tenten doodle page

[laualla]

i changed my pfp because i was done with having a random picture and this one keeps the colour scheme i had going on, let's see if i keep it or not

[toffeesbabbles]

incoming error sans ramble...

I've always thought, personally, that error sans knows he can't destroy every glitch in multiverse and what's hes doing is low-key evil. But, it gives him purpose and a purpose hes been devout to. If he doesn't have his PURPOSE then what is the point of his existence, his suffering, his grief? He'll come up with any excuse in the book to protect his ego. he prioritizes it over everything and everyone else.

Also, acknowledging your perspective is bad and you were wrong takes, y'know, self reflection. something error is not know to have. he's unwilling to face himself and really evaluate on a deep level WHY hes doing what hes doing.

I don't think he would like what he saw. Because he would have to acknowledge his way of thinking all spurred from a violent insanity due to be stuck in the anti-void. From a state I can't really blame him for either (i mean seriously i dont think ANYONE could be in the situation he was and not come out without permanent personality change). Not from any logical and or truthful basis.

[strixcattus]

Took a look at the new ending sequence (snagged a save from the end of my very first playthrough) and I'm really enjoying it... the animations are so pretty and you've got so many more options for a dialogue with the Shifting Mound now instead of being limited to "I won't engage with violence." And the extra conversation you can get at the "Unknown Together" ending... asking her about her name... I love it.

But now, for some reason, my computer refuses to let the mouse-pointer remain as it ought to be and snaps it back to a normal mouse as soon as I move it. Technology...

[letgomaggie]

I finally got around to finishing Be My Favourite and I loved it. It was not perfect, I am not head over heels for it but I do hold it dear to my heart. What a wonderful little story. I loved all the characters and all their arcs -- yes, even Not, for the simple reason that they don't automatically 'fix' him in any timeline. Some people are just the way they are, and it's solely on them. He does get multiple chances to make things better, different with the people around him but he is fundamentally caught up with his own self till the very end. And I love that he is there to show this contrast. Other characters take those chances. Maybe not all of them, but in some timelines, they do. They are willing to adjust. Its such a subtle way of showing the breadth of how different we all are and how everyone reacts differently to different circumstances.

I also adored Kawi and Pisaeng together. They have such comfort between themselves. They aren't sappy and overtly romantic and made of loud actions. They are there for each other, throughout, and that's what they cherish about their relationship. It is so comforting to see a relationship that just allows itself to be, without trying to justify itself in the eyes of others.

My favourite was definitely the hinting they did at COVID. While I did not particularly like the whole Pisaeng goes back in time and "saves" Kawi thing, I loved that COVID was not scrapped off because it very well could have been. It just made it all seem so real idk what else to say.

Kawi and Pisaeng are two of my babies now, but more importantly Max and Pear are my little loves and I wish them all the utmost happiness in their universe.

Onto the next one!

[ostrichmonkey-games]

On the subject of OSR, someday I will sit down and write a post about my semi-compelling argument on how Blades in the Dark is OSR.

[an-na-ko]

Lyra, my beloved cat of 13 years, passed away this year on Father's Day. She's been by my side through very difficult times and was my little rock of steady and unrelenting love. I struggled a lot drawing this, and struggled a lot posting it, but I know I would've wanted to read a comic like this that validated my grief for her when I lost her.

Wherever you are, Lyra my little summer star, I love you always! Thank you for being the best thing in my life.

[miss-americanbi]

how the absolute FUCK am i supposed to live long and prosper in these conditions

[demonicsuffrage]

By some supernatural accident, Batman and Superman swap bodies. But the accident was just so embarassing that they collectively decided to NOT tell anyone about, and figure out how to reverse it all on their own. But, unfortunately, this means they now have to keep up this farce in front of their families

Clark, in Bruce's body, wiping some blood off his mouth and wincing at the 15 cracked ribs he now has: Guess I can bleed, huh

Dick, staring in disbelief after the patrol: YES OFCOURSE YOU CAN!? WHY THE HELL DID YOU THROW YOURSELF DIRECTLY ON TOP OF A GRENADE-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruce, in Clark's body, squinting at the bright smallville sun at the Kent farm: This is way too much for 11 am

Jon, staring at his newly grumpy dad: I think batman is a bad influence on you, dad

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clark in Bruce's body, staring at his reflection in the mirror: The shoulder to waist ratio is insane, such a grabbable waist

Poor Tim, who accidentally overheard this, getting ready to call Arkham: Uhuh it's definitely, insane

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kon: And so I said, ofcourse, i would love the soup-er salad!

Bruce in Clark's body, deadpan expression on his face:

Kon: Get it? Soup-er salad?

Bruce: Yes

Kon, sad puppy expression: You always laugh at soup puns :(

Bruce, now with an Extremely Forced little smile: Yes it was very....funny

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clark, in Bruce's body, rushing to hug a visibly bleeding Jason who walked into the cave after patrol: What happened?! Are you okay?

Jason, freezing up because the last time Bruce ran to hug him was, never:

Clark, immediately backing up, and speaking with a deliberately gruff voice: I mean. Is the blood yours? Son.

Jason:...no

[specialagentartemis]

Saw a post pointing out that the idea of a Saturday-Sunday weekend is in itself cultural Christianity being applied to the whole “secular” world, that in Israel the weekend is Friday-Saturday and in some Muslim-majority countries the weekend is Thursday-Friday or only Friday (in others it’s Friday-Saturday as well.)

Anyway to make a truly secular and inclusive world I propose a Monday-Wednesday work-week and a Thursday-Sunday weekend. I think anyone of any or no religion could all get behind this.

[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 the endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)

Transparent Language: (Languages: THE MOST! Also the one that has the widest variety of African languages! Perhaps the most diverse in ESL and learning a foreign language not in English)

"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)

[eldritch-elrics]

obsessed with the april fools day joke from the another crab's treasure devs