#it would practically write itself

[heretherebedork]

I vote we throw all the BL actors in this color-coded gym and tell them to improvise a BL.

[amphibious-thing]

I hate the idea that we can split history neatly into before homosexuality and after homosexuality. I mostly read 18th century queer history and most people date the invention of homosexuality as sometime during the 19th century. People will assume that anything they associate with after homosexuality didn’t exist in the 18th century (the belief that sexuality was inborn, the association between same-sex attraction and gender nonconformity, the myth of the homo-hetero binary). And they will assume that anything they associate with before homosexuality necessarily does apply to the 18th century (topping not being stigmatised, men being attracted to boys being considered the norm).

These assumptions are false. Some historians will try and fix this by pushing back the invention of homosexuality to the early 18th century. However this is really just putting a bandaid on a flawed idea. The truth is that history is never simple. The idea of a simplistic before and after is the problem.

[queenie-ofthe-void]

I have fallen down a rabbit hole and now I'm in desperate need of fics where Steve plays for the Savanah Bananas

[rigelmejo]

Something that always annoys me is the idea only 1 language learning method works. Which is not true. While it may be possible that, for a particular individual, only a few out of many study methods may work well enough for That Individual to make progress and stay motivated... that doesn't mean all the other study methods won't work for anyone else out there, or that those few methods will work for every other given person.

Obviously if you've been studying a while, then you already figured out what kinds of things work for you and don't. If you're a beginner, just wading into studying?

I would suggest you simply look for study methods that: 1. Teach you new things regularly, 2. Review and practice things you've learned, 3. Include studying things you need for your particular goals (for example if your goal is to read X book then the study materials at some point should involve reading practice and some words the book contains, if your goal is to talk about Y then the study materials should include some information about pronunciation and words you'll need to be able to say).

As you can imagine, a TON of study materials will meet these requirements. And you can study a given skill in a LOT of ways.

(Reading is my focus lol so just for reading, a beginner might: do vocabulary study with lists or conversations with native speakers or watching shows and looking words up or listening to dialogues with a transcript like in a textbook or graded readers or a picture book with word labels in the target language or a video game with labelled objects in target language, all of those things as long as your vocabulary is improving or reading practice is happening would help you make progress). So to improve reading skill as a beginner: you could study with a textbook, a podcast with transcript, a classroom or tutor with words written down in target language (like TPRS), a video game, a TV show and a translate app on your phone, a friend you talk with (who either writes words down or you look up words you hear with a translate app), a friend you text with, srs flashcards like anki (provided there's text) etc. As long as there's new words, and/or you're practicing reading, the study method may work. If it works will come down to if you can stay motivated doing it regularly, and make sure you regularly learn some new things and review/practice things you've already studied.

So consider those things when you see people selling a study method as a product (especially when it's costing you money). Consider if it teaches you NEW things, and are those new things related to your goals, and how MUCH new stuff will it teach you before you finish it? Consider if it provides review or practice, or if you can use it's materials to review on your own making up your own method, or if you'll need to do separate review/practice.

So examples:

LingQ. Can it teach you many new words? Yes, thousands, since you can import any texts you want when you get done with their provided material (I have no idea how much their beginner material covers though in terms of words... I would hope 1000-3000 words but that can be researched). Is your goal reading? It's suited to reading, so you will practice and review often with it. Cost? I think it was $12 a month when I last had it, and the price may have increased. Is it worth it? Depends on a learner's needs. I found it was wasting my money, so I chose to use free tools like Pleco and Readibu apps - since those apps are suited for Chinese learners and have better translations, Pleco has better paid graded reader material if I was going to spend money, and both Pleco and Readibu let me import texts so I can learn thousands of new words just like LingQ but free. Now that I'm not a beginner, I often use Microsoft Edge to read chinese... since I can still click-translate words easily (all my web browsers have that tool free), and Edge's TTS voice is helpful for pronunciation and sounds quite good. I read webnovels online so Edge works well. But it's translations aren't as good as Pleco or Readibu, so if I still needed translations more I would use them. So... is LingQ a good study method? Its certainly a study method marketed to buy. Well... the method is suited to improving reading skill, at least. It costs money, which is a negative, but it does offer a lot. However: everything it does regarding reading can be done free with other apps or sites or web browsers on their own. So if paying money motivates you to read... sure. LingQ does have a few word tracking features a learner may find worth the money, keeping in mind the actual read-to-learn method can be done free without lingq. (Also... while LingQ is a valid option for improving reading, if the learners goal is speaking then it would be important to think of what study activities the learner will do OUTSIDE of LingQ to improve speaking... because I've seen how LingQ is marketed as "how to learn a language" but it's only focused on some skills. It has vocabulary and grammar in some sense, since you'll read a lot and encounter new words and structures. But it doesnt have speaking or writing practice at least last time I was on it. Those activities would need to be worked on, on your own).

You can do that kind of cost/benefit contemplating with any study method material you see being sold. Amother example: there's a beginner Mandarin course called Mandarin Blueprint. It teaches like 800 words. Thats all. It may be worthwhile for a beginner... who still needs to learn 800 common words. But if you already know a few hundred words, the benefit of the course is less, you'll need to find a new material to teach you more new stuff soon. And the price was like a few hundred for the course... which for me personally was too much to spend, when I had already learned 800 hanzi from a book that cost me 12 dollars and 2000 words from a free user made memrise deck. The course claimed to get a person speaking, competent, but anyone not a beginner would say speaking basically with 800 words is nowhere near the level of working in Chinese or just doing a lot of daily life stuff, or reading/listening to media. (Although for the motivated beginner if you're learning 800 words on your own like I was, its definitely close to the point of jumping to learn more words and start reading kids and teenager books, and watching easier shows if you're willing to look new words up). So to me... Mandarin Blueprint felt like overselling some basic beginner materials. (Again when I know several other things that teach beginner stuff either more in depth so HSK test prep classes, and college courses, or that teach beginner stuff to the same depth as Mandarin Blueprint but free).

Some study materials aren't going to act like they teach everything. I've seen chinese courses just for learning to speak tones better and general pronunciation - probably worthwhile if your goal is to improve speaking and a teacher could help improve the issues your having. But a learner needs to be aware for that course that they'll need to study vocabulary on their own, its JUST a pronunciation improvement course.

[avernusreject]

Look all I’m saying is as the centuries pass after the events of bg3, I choose to believe some bard is going to make a really god awful cheesy opera or musical about the tragedy of durgetash. Forbidden lovers doomed from the start? Practically writes itself. It’s has to be so obnoxiously over the top melodramatic. It barely follows any of the actual events. Like it’s just so bad that Bane makes Gortash’s afterlife punishments even worse because of it’s existence.

[geekeryisafoot]

I possess a brain today so I can finally actually describe why these are the same to me. They have the exact same starting plot (oh no someone scienced horrific mindless vampires that keep killing people! We must science back at them!) AND the same core appeal (vampires queer and hot. Yay fade to black sex scenes!)

[grimark]

feeling the overwhelming urge to write a deeply self-indulgent doctor who/star trek crossover fic right now, because you know who else would fall so fucking hard for the master's goofy little spy schtick? julian bashir, that's who.

[memento-morri-writes]

More dnd writing because it's all I have but I here's a snippet from a vignette I did of Rook's past (from Zara's POV), because Rook and his mentors never fails to make me sick (/pos).

[transcript under the cut]

Taking a coin out of her pocket, she rolled it across her knuckles, back and forth. It gave her hands something to do, and prevented the urge to bite her nails, something she hadn’t done in years. Ten minutes passed, then twenty. Zara began to pace as Rook’s breathing grew shakier and the color drained from his skin. Where the hells is Jay? she wondered. The room was so quiet that she could hear every tick of the small clock on her bedside table, and each one echoed in her head. How many ticks does he have left? She didn’t want to think about it.  She’d had crew members die before, of course. You don’t go as many years as a captain as she had and never lose a soul. But all the others who had died had died quickly, in combat. She’d mourned for all of them, even shed tears in private, but there was something different about watching the life drain out of a person right in front of your eyes.

[good-beans]

I know most of our focus goes (rightfully) to the trial songs, but I genuinely believe Baptism of Fire is equally a masterpiece of meaningful writing and intense vocal acting

Incoming tag rant because I need to yell about this, feel free to yell back

[thecryptidart1st]

Build A Bear, stop writing yourself into a horror movie, I’m already scared

[solivagantingrebel]

Kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss—

[sayheykid]

anyway captain mason mctavish. thoughts.

this is nothing i haven't said before. but. everyone thinks it's going to be zegras eventually but honestly i just don't think he's captain material? face of the franchise sure but he hasn't settled down enough to be someone who handles the locker room/other captain responsibilities. maybe eventually he'll prove me wrong.

but anyway the team is very young and has a focus on drafting and development at the moment. limited options, not as many veterans now as there were a few years ago. so what's the solution. young guy who plays and conducts himself like an old guy.

mctavish is what. 21. i expect to see him in the league for like 12-15 more years, that's not unreasonable. that's a guy you can build around. someone who's going to grow into the role but to me is already very capable. i think you could give him the C tomorrow and have no problem

there is a precedent for this, which is already being proven. first of all, he has set himself apart from his peers on numerous occasions. he made his nhl debut TWO MONTHS TO THE DAY after being drafted. (he was 17 btw) the ducks second pick in the 2021 draft, olen zellweger, made his debut this past season. no one else from that class has come up.

at the nhl level, mctavish, zegras and drysdale were the same cohort of like young guns/future of the team. let's revisit where they all are now. drysdale was done wrong by the ducks - never given the time or support to really develop and get healthy before getting shipped off but that's besides the point. zegras is the most well known of the three of them, doesn't really have anything to show for it either. mctavish is the one who got the A in just his second full season.

another cohort has now joined the team, newer rookies who are still figuring things out. mctavish is no longer the youngest one on the team, but it's not by a ton. he's perfectly positioned now where he's been around long enough that he's looked up to but doesn't necessarily seem like an Authority™ you know.

also the ducks have been without a captain since getzlaf, but were able to get by on the leadership of henrique, silfverberg and cam fowler. (they had five guys wear the A this past year though? that's too many) but losing henrique and silfverberg, while a hit to the veteran presence, really streamlines the leadership core if i'm being honest. it feels like as good a time as any to really commit to making this a defined era for the ducks. i really like this year's As too - cam fowler as the throughline for half a decade of ducks hockey, plus troy terry as another older guide, i think that's a really strong foundation and baseline for further development, not only for the team as a whole but specifically for mctavish as future captain.

i'm not necessarily saying give mctavish the C right now, though I think he's more than capable. we've seen young captains before (landeskog, crosby, mcdavid etc) who have done tremendous work, and I don't see why that list couldn't include mctavish

[superfallingstars]

thinking about the common writing advice of "write what you know" but unfortunately this would mean i would have to write a new york liberal arts school marauders au

[randomrandomalright]

Kazuscara but it’s Good Omens

Kazuha- Aziraphale

Scara/Wanderer- Crowley

[bluntforcefem]

been rolling around the idea for a few months of a fusion mechanic for interstitial that isnt amalgam-based (pure self-indulgence for when me and my friends do a campaign) which is not... too entirely far off from what about pacrim would be interesting to me as interstitial-based mechanics (read: the drift)

[pinksilvace]

Something that often gets me about toh is that most of its character writing flaws could have been solved if it had been a persona game and I'm not joking