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my friends stole my gender

@gendernutralghost

Alex they/them 18 uk I'm a just a little goblin obsessed with clicky dice likes ttrpgs, fiction podcasts and whatever I feel like in the moment

I know you don't know who he is but this has to be the funniest description of Arthur Lester I've ever encountered and I can just fucking imagine this happening if The Black Parade existed back then

Arthur: [Sits at piano]

John, with control of Arthur's left hand: [Accidentally hits the G note]

Arthur, who probably had an emo phase as a teen, every bone in his body awakening into cardiac arrest: Whatthefuck

Any Harlan Guthrie podcast is just listening to a wet little man covered in blood climb through tunnels while an eerie disconnected voice tries to reason with him

and it’s always so good

apparently europeans have the impression that US Americans never learn the metric system.

like our science curriculum from day one is entirely done in the metric system. we just don't use metric in our day to day lives.

yeah actually we kinda just do it for the bit :)

I have had people try to gently and kindly explain to me the workings of the metric system, as if Americans are having trouble with the concept of a base ten system. like no. we get it. we were taught this when we were like eight. it's just that like. we don't really wanna do it that way. for the bit.

no no it's for the bit it's for the bit !!! it's for the bit!!!!!

he's the worst man alive he's the love of my life he's covered in blood he's weird about god and he's a lot, he's not perfect, but most importantly he's bisexual

Let's talk about Language

Jonathan Harker is an Englishman from Exeter. As such he speaks (Devon-accented) English.

He has mentioned a couple of times now that he also speaks German, but not very well. He calls it a "smattering" but it's enough to get him through Hungary, which is famously diglossic. He does not speak Hungarian. When he gets into Romania the language barrier becomes more profound because not only does he not understand any Romanian, the locals don't have a whole lot of German either. When he talks to the innkeeper's wife they're both using a common language neither speaks well.

You've all heard me go on about this but I am going to say it again: I'm obsessed with the fact that in earlier drafts when the Count was located in Austria he specifically requested a solicitor who did not speak German. He's not supposed to be able to communicate with the locals. He's supposed to be wholly dependent on Dracula, who as we've seen in the finished version is arranging all his travel and writing him little letters and such to help him navigate his way there.

[Aside: is Dracula speaking German to the coachman? Because Jonathan is able to understand their conversation, which he wouldn't if it were in Romanian. It makes sense because the coachman refers to him as the English Herr. But if so Dracula must be doing so specifically for Jonathan's benefit - otherwise he would be using his own language.]

But! At some point Jonathan acquired a polyglot dictionary! This is another great character moment. Like his research at the British Museum, it means he is aware of his deficiencies (not speaking the local language) and taken steps to correct them. Dracula wants him isolated, but Jonathan wants to know things and talk to people. He asked questions of the waiters in Budapest. He asked questions of the innkepers in Bistritz (who suddenly forgot how to speak German). He can't ask questions of the townsfolk or other passengers on the coach because he doesn't speak their language, but he's trying to understand anyway by means of the resources he does have - the polyglot dictionary. Communication is key and he's trying to make it happen.

A second aside: people have pointed out that he misspells (and mistranslates) ördög. Other people have pointed out that he's remarkably good at looking up words in a language he doesn't speak just on sound. (To harken means to listen and pay attention - his name means Listener, so maybe he's just preternaturally good at that). But he's writing his diary in shorthand, which may not have an obvious way of rendering the diacritics (he leaves them off of mămăligă as well) so that's an extra layer of translation. And he's relying on his little dictionary, but that dictionary may not be reliable, in the same way that despite all his research he was not able to find Castle Dracula on any map. (Maybe it's like Rokovoko - too real for maps).

We laugh a lot at "I must ask the Count about these superstitions," but here's the thing: the Count speaks English. No one else on this trip is able to communicate with Jonathan in his own language (or in theirs!) even if they wanted to (which they often don't, since vampires are Scary). And this is by design!

And Dracula speaks excellent English. Better than Jonathan's German. And he wants to get better at it (which is totally reasonable). But there's this huge linguistic power imbalance here, in spite of which Jonathan still manages to arrive better prepared and better informed than he is supposed to.

By the time Dracula arrives in England, will he be speaking with a Devon accent?

I am kind of surprised that "D&D: Honor Among Thieves" isn't getting as much [tumblr] love as it deserves. This is my contribution:

  • Everyone involved-- writer, actor, director, wardrobe, camera, EVERYONE-- understood the assignment.
  • There is no attempt to apologize for the fact that it's an ensemble fantasy comedy-adventure movie.
  • The plot is clever without being Too Clever. All of the major twists are well-telegraphed, and while it surprises you in a couple of places, it doesn't try to shock you.
  • Given that the archetypes of the fantasy genre came to us from Tolkein, Dungeons & Dragons, and Tolken-by-way-of-D&D, you will not need any context for the game and the lore that is not provided by the film itself. If you aren't familiar with the lore, there are no jokes or plot points you will miss.
  • If you are familiar with the Lore, there are references galore, but they're not fan service, they're the byproduct of the fact that the movie is set in a known location in a richly developed world. For example, despite that the fact that it's set in Neverwinter, at no point do any characters utter the phrase "Neverwinter Nights".
  • If there must be a negative comparison to the game, it's that no Dungeon Master alive could get a party to stick to the plot that well. They'd have gotten off track at the battlefield and the bard would have tried to seduce the Red Witch. Or everyone would have tried to adopt Themberchaud.

My mother, who understands D&D only as that loud nerd event which takes over the dining room four nights a month, loved the movie.

A fun game if you're into D&D is to spot every Nat 1 and Nat 20. There's a really funny Nat 1 that the sorc rolls mid way through and it's so fucking funny.

ALSO the website of "practical effects are superior" can have a field day with this movie. There are dragonborn, tabaxi AND arakockra characters that are majority practical effects, not CGI

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But seriously, when we got our property, it was all just…grass. A sterile grass moonscape, like a billion other yards. With two big old maple trees. Just grass and maples, that was it. 

But then I got my grubby little paws on it, and I immediately stopped fertilizing, spraying, and bagging up grass clippings and leaves. I ripped up sod and put in flowers and vegetables. I put down nice thick blankets of mulch around the flowers and vegetables. 

When I first was sweating my way through stripping sod, I saw a grand total of 1 worm and 0 ladybugs. The ground was compacted into something that would bend shovel blades. 

Now, six years later, I can’t dig a planting hole without turning up fourteen earthworms, and there are so many ladybugs here. Not the invasive asian lady beetles; native ladybugs. They winter over in the mulch and in the brush pile. I see thousands of them. 

The soil is soft and rich. There are birds that come to eat, and bees of many sorts.

Like this is something that you, yourself, can absolutely change. This is something that you, personally, can make a difference in.

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Like, last year I watched no fewer than twenty-nine monarch caterpillars grow up on my milkweed and fly away as butterflies. I watched swallowtails and moths grow. There are hummingbirds fighting over flowers now.

I did that. Me. You can do the same.

Is this post about making a garden or beating depression

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As someone with clinically diagnosed anxiety and depression;

Yes.

thinking about dttm again dont talk to me

YOU DONT GET IT . "Death. Ah, we've seen some good ones, haven't we? Some bad ones as well. But the good ones are the ones that stick with you. I think, tonight: Ulysses."

"But that's not the death you came here to see."

AUGGHGDHDGHEHDHHE ! THERE ARE LIES WE TELL OURSELVES AND THERE ARE LIES WE TELL THE UNIVERSE . WEVE LIVED SO LONG TOGETHER PERHAPS IT IS ONLY FITTING WE DIE ALONE . OUR BODIES ARE STILL AND OUR BLOOD IS COLD THE BOOKS ARE CLOSED AND OUR STORIES TOLD NO HAPPY EVER AFTER FOR A TALE SO OLD LAID IN BLOOD WHEN THE STORY IS DONE

Me: yep

Me: sees trans man not binding and one in a dress

Me : nope!

You didn’t have to draw a trans man with boobs sis, thanks for the dysphoria babeey

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friendlytrender

if u get dysphoric when u see a boob that’s understandable but its also your problem to deal with n u don’t get to shame other trans dudes for drawing people like them with visible breasts. as much as it sucks, most trans men do have non flat chests and it’s not a bad thing to draw trans men with breasts (unless ur sexualising them, or ur drawing a real life trans man who’s dysphoric about his chest).

also u can’t have a go at op for drawing a trans man without a binder bc it makes u dysphoric n then call him sis. dont be a fuckin hypocrite dude.

anyways good post op

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sunsblush

some trans men can’t bind for medical reasons. some don’t prefer to bind bc it’s uncomfortable, and hot, and sweaty!!! some trans men arent that bothered by chest dysphoria!

trans people are not required to attempt conformity to be valid in their identity. no one is required to try and “look cis”. that’s your own shit to deal with.

Thank you for drawing trans men who aren’t binding and who wear feminine clothes, OP, seeing trans people like myself really helps with my dysphoria

I can’t bind because of my severe asthma and pain in my ribs from fibromyalgia. So seeing trans men who aren’t binding really helps my crippling dysphoria. Thanks op (also disabled trans men aaaaaah! 💖)

Also some trans men cant afford a binder, or are closeted, or itt isnt safe where they live to bind, binding isnt a necessity v

Also trans men, just like cis men, are allowed to wear dresses.

official boob post

Also, there’s a fair few cis men just that I’ve known who have small breasts or who have worn dresses

Trans men are men. Plain, period, end of sentence.

If you are a trans man and you bind? Guess what! You’re valid!

If you are a trans man and you don’t bind? Guess what! You’re valid!

If you are a trans man with chest dysphoria and/or dysphoria re: your diddly-bits? Guess what! You’re valid!

If you are a trans man without chest dysphoria and/or dysphoria re: your diddly-bits? Guess what! You’re valid!

And if anyone says otherwise? Kick them directly in the genitals so hard you can see their eyes bulge.