#I don't want to skew things

[waitineedaname]

If you made a just some guy tournament I have a couple ideas of guys who'd be good candidates but the problem is they're way too niche and would get eliminated immediately. I'm talking guys like Kevin J. James from Guaranteed* Video or fuckin uh. Ando Masahashi from Heroes

I mean, don't let nicheness hold you back! you never know what kind of results you'll get. though I will say, I haven't figured out exactly how I'd be running it yet, but I'm probably gonna not allow real people, so Kevin J. James wouldn't work. but fictional characters are fair game!

#asks #anonymous #I'll probably set up a google forms for submissions if I end up doing it #so people can submit characters + reasoning #and I encourage you to go as niche as you want bc I'll probably include the reasonings people give in the polls themselves #but I don't think I'll allow real people #even though it would be very funny to put jerma in there #but I think the way I'm defining Just Some Guy #is like a very ordinary person in a very extraordinary situation #so for example I'll definitely be including reigen (a non-psychic surrounded by psychics and spirits) #and ethan winters (just some wifeguy forced to fight zombies) #so if your guy fits those parameters I say go for it #NOT until I get it set up of course #and I haven't even decided if I'm actually gonna do it yet #I'm still waiting on the poll results #I hate that I can't see results unless I vote myself #I don't want to skew things

[eldritch-elrics]

#my post #poll #music #memes #audio #hmmmmm idk if i should tag this as one thing or another.. i don't want to skew the results #also sorry i forgot to put an 'other' category

[canisalbus]

I've always wanted to ask how you can draw an oc that you know has a bad end/dies in their story. You are stronger than me and I'd love to know what motivates you

I know I'm in a minority on this and most OC creators don't think about their characters' deaths, but it's never bothered me much honestly. The way I see it, if I know how their life starts and how it ends, it's much easier to figure out what happens in the middle.

#does that make sense? #cw musings about death and stuff #I feel like I need to be able to see the whole picture in order to truly know this character and how their life pans out #at one point I had deaths planned for nearly all of my more developed ocs and it was just a natural part of their storyline #but that's just me and my personal way of handling these things #then again I suspect my relationship with death as a topic might be a bit skewed I dunno maybe I'm just melancholic and needlessly morbid #I don't want to sound pretentious but I appreciate the concept of mortality and I like fiction that values and explores it #answered #anonymous #I admit I've gotten a little more remorseful about Machete's fate after Vasco's return he has so much more to lose now

[skellagirl]

#danny phantom #dpxdc #Yes this is a silly poll. it's fandom. it's not that deep #and I'm not hugely involved with the dp fandom like. as a group. I have my moots and that's all I want #so I don't have a huge stake in this either way #BUTTTTTT EVEN SO the lack of tagging etiquette from the dpxdc fandom is a pain in the ass #literally just don't tag ur shit with danny phantom. it's not hard. they're two different fandoms. #do that one (1) easy thing and boom. peace and love on planet earth #the dp and dpxdc fandoms can hold hands and frolic and kiss each other with tongue like God intended without stepping on each other's toes #and encroaching on each other's space #BADA BING BADA BOOM problem solved and it only took what? eleven seconds? #also I am fully aware that this isn't like some scientifically bulletproof way to collect data bc it can beel easily skewed #even just by like one person with a dozen alt side accounts or something #but I was just :) curious :))))) #fuck it we ball #if anyone from either side comes at me with drama I'm just gonna straight-up ignore it btw this isn't worth getting worked up over #and I'm Not letting anyone drag me into fandom drama

[fictionadventurer]

The curse of reading indie books strikes again, because I desperately need to discuss the Emma M. Lion series with you, but no one will know what I'm talking about.

#books #random thought of the day #the unselected journals of emma m. lion #i read five of these books in three days #utterly delightful and full of so many things i love #along with some things that i don't #and i want to dig into all the nitty gritty analysis of why these books are so lovely #and the ways in which the worldview is a bit skewed #and how the two interact #plus just all the fantastic characters and worldbuilding details that are so much fun #but there's a 99.999% chance no one here has read them and i am in distress #though on the off chance that i'm wrong please please please let me know so we can have discussions

[ghoul-haunted]

doing my own artistic reconstructions of the middle to late republic (and eventually, late empire) army and lemme tell you. if I ever have to draw chainmail ever again (I will) I'm going to scream (I am)

also I miss the era of forums. shout out to all these guys in a larp/reenactment forum from 2006 for posting close ups of their armor reconstructions from multiple angles to show how it all comes together, I owe you my fucking life

#TRAGIC that spaces like that don't exist anymore and also google is useless and youtube only goes so far because the search #function there sucks too #academics on twitter will act like snobs because the general public has a skewed image of what roman armor looks like #but doesn't actually make any effort to show people visually things would look like. they just want to complain that books #that are easily accessible to the public are wrong and it's so cringe that people have based their associations off of that #like i get the frustration but if you aren't going to try and rectify the situation yourself then shut the fuck up #the average person won't understand the specifics of chainmail patterns and it's actually deeply frustrating when visuals #ARENT provided except for the crustiest scan of a photo from a magazine like you are less than useless god fucking bless

[singular-yike]

The Name "Saragimaru"

A Challenge From JynX

Now that Kanae's 80-hour BotC work marathon is over and I am free man once more, I've suddenly gotten an inexplicable burst in motivation to work on the JynX & Len’en Tweet Collection.

It's exactly what it sounds like, Twitter is, well what it is, these days, and it'd be a shame if we lost such a treasure trove of Len'en history and lore.

It is in the middle of this that I stumbled across this pair of tweets, which is quite interesting indeed:

RIP Clause aside, what really got me is that bit about Yaorochi and Saragimaru's inspirations, especially that bit about how their inspiration right there on their names.

With Yaorochi it's extremely obvious, both its pronunciation and kanji clearly allude to Yamata-no-Orochi; But with Saragimaru, things fall apart real fast. What on earth was their name based on?

Let's take a very, almost certainly overly close, look at the name Saragimaru (蛇穴丸), and try to piece together what it may be about.

Splitting the Name

This is a completely blind area of research for me, and I could scarcely find anything about this on both Japanese and Chinese wikis that had Len'en information.

Searching Saragimaru (蛇穴丸) on its own got me nothing but Len'en either, so I decided to split the name in the most logical way I could think of: Saragi + maru. Now let's take a look at them separately.

Maru

-maru (丸 lit. "circle, round") is a fairly common tomeji (止め字), suffixes commonly added to kanji names, such as ko (子 e.g. Kanako 可南子 or Minako 美奈子) or tarou (太郎 e.g. Kentarou 健太郎 or Kotarou 虎太郎).

Nowadays, -maru is most commonly associated with ship names, but it's still used in a wide variety of names, from people to animal to object names.

It's unclear where it originated from, but a dominant theory is that it comes from the Heian period first-person pronoun maro (麿 or 麻呂). This later came to be added to the names of people who were loved and respected.

This idea of love and treasuring the thing being named would become one of the central ideas of the -maru suffix, often being attached to pet names, especially dog names, as well as names of swords.

Additionally, it's believed that maru, meaning "round", was a euphemism for excretion. It's thought that naming someone with particularly loathsome names could actually protect them from demons and disasters, so they were commonly used for the names of young boys, especially those who were to become warriors.

It is this last angle that I think is relevant here, -maru as a tomeji used for warriors. Saragimaru is certainly a warrior themself, wielding both a one-handed sword and a naginata.

To be honest, this whole ramble about the -maru ateji could really end up being nothing. On one hand, -maru is very likely just another ateji for the everyday Japanese person, but on the other, this is JynX we're talking about, so I though to give it a dive all the same.

Saragi

Now onto the main focus, Saragi (蛇穴), the good thing is that this was a phrase that shows up intermittently throughout Japanese history, so we do have several possibilities to go off of.

Unfortunately, none of them really feel that connected to Saragimaru, so I'm not sure if I'm on the right track at all. Nevertheless, let's check these out from most relevant to least.

Saragi and Autumn

First, let's ignore the reading of saragi and just look at the written phrase 蛇穴, literally "snake hole". It's used in a kigo (季語), words or phrases associated with a season in traditional Japanese poetry.

The phrase is "entering the snake's hole [nest]" (蛇穴に入る), which points autumn in the 9th traditional month, since that is when snakes enter their burrows and hibernate.

This is potentially relevant as EMS in fact takes place in autumn.

Saragi and Pottery

Next, we look at a proposed etymology of the word saragi.

It's believed that the way snakes curled themselves up to dig their burrows used to be called saraki (さらき), this was later loaned to refer to clay pottery, as the process of shaping the pottery was compared to a snake curling up.

This would be relevant to Saragimaru through Sukune Kanato, a clay pottery artisan with whom Saragimaru had some dealings, even requesting the clay replica of the Tasouken from them.

Saragi Village

There is a settlement named Saragi (蛇穴), located in Gose City, Nara Prefecture. There are several theories as to how this name came to be, and is where the above point came from.

But rather than the name itself, what I'd like to draw attention to is a local festival, the "Snake-pulling Soup-scattering Festival" (蛇曳き汁掛け祭り), which takes place on the 5th May every year.

The story goes En no Gyōja (役行者), an ascetic and mystic said to be the founder of Shugendō (修験道), would pass through Saragi Village every day on his way to train on Mount Katsura.

A young girl from the village fell madly in love with En, but he would not even glance at her. Eventually, her feelings grew so strong that she transformed into a snake and chased after him.

However, it happened to be the rice-planting season, and the villagers were working in the field. It was then that they saw a giant snake spewing fire as it slithered across the field.

In their fear, the villagers took the miso soup that was meant to be a light meal for the field workers, and threw it at the snake, chasing it away. The villages gave chase, finding that it ran into a well. They covered the well up with a great boulder, trapping her.

There they built the Noguchi Shrine (野口神社), next to the well the snake was sealed in, to enshrine and provide for the girl's spirit.

The shrine is also dedicated to a dragon god, who has dominion over water. While it's not too clear where it comes from, it seems safe to me to assume that it's the same great snake that the girl transformed into, especially since snakes and dragons were often considered similar beings having power over water.

Below: The "Snake Mound" (蛇塚), where the snake is said to have fled into.

This leads to the "Snake-pulling Soup-scattering Festival", which, as the name implies, has two major events.

First is the "soup-scattering", which is believed to summon rain for good harvest in the coming year.

It used to be that the miso soup is actually thrown at the attendees of the festival. Though because the soup is actually constantly heated by fire, this is no longer done for safety concerns.

Below: The priest of the shrine scattering the soup, yes this is literal.

Next is the Snake-pulling, a giant snake made out of rice straws is made, said to carry the blessing of the dragon god of the Noguchi Shrine, and is even offered a whole bottle of sake.

It's brought to every house of the village, ensuring everyone gets a good harvest. At the end of the parade, its brought to the well, where it's positioned to sit in a coiled position over the well.

Below: The great straw snake atop the well.

That concludes, roughly, the tale of Saragi Village and its extremely unique festival (with some extra details too cause dang it's interesting).

There could be some rough threads drawn between the two

The girl's all-consuming love for En no Gyōja could be compared to Saragimaru's intense devotion to Yaorochi.

The girl's transformation into a great snake, rendered similarly as 大蛇 (lit. "giant snake") in the records.

The festival's purpose to calling upon rain could relate to Saragimaru's ability to manipulate cloudy weather.

In the end I won't say it's really a perfect fit for Saragimaru, but it's certainly the closest I think any of these saragi-related lines of thought have brought us.

Conclusion

And that's really all I was able to find, no satisfactory conclusion this time, just a few potential connections for you to ponder on and drawn your own conclusions with.

This, at the very least, would placate my burning desire to figure out what JynX really means with that tweet, even if it's not the right answer.

As usual, I hope you enjoyed~! :)

#len'en #len'en project #len'en lore #adagumo no saragimaru #I do want to post more #but I'm really juggling so many things at once #that and I can't really think of any ideas #since I don't really want to just regurgitate the wiki #especially since like at least half of the mythology/history stuff there was already written by me #I'd rather explore more shaky connections and obscure stuff here #though I suppose my idea of obscure is probably very skewed at this point #feel free to ask for stuff as always~ #also BotC is nearing release!! #big excitement

[saline-coelacanth]

When I was going on my walk earlier today, my brain started comparing different Sonic and Ninjago characters and then thinking about who would win in a fight. I came up with a few examples but it initially just started because my brain was thinking about the Overlord and Mephiles which then turned into who would win in a fight between them. (Which maybe I'm just biased but I think Mephiles would be the winner there)

But yeah just wanted to ramble about that real quick because it's been on my mind all day lol

#random ramblings #i thought about turning this into a poll but i didn't want things to get skewed #because while i know there's overlap between sonic and ninjago fans #i don't know how much overlap there is so i don't know how fair it would be #and i would probably add an option for people who don't know enough about both characters #but i also don't know how many people would click that over wanting to see the guy from their fandom win #idk i'm probably just overthinking things like i do #maybe i will make a poll if i'm feeling up to it idk right now

[piplupod]

the reason Juno can be so pleasant and niceys to be around is because me and a couple other chucklefucks back here are taking on the brunt of the less pleasant symptoms that you get when you are abused your entire life by the people who are supposed to keep you safe. if you think Juno's pleasant and kind and soft, it's because some other parts of the brain have to hold all the ugly "bad victim" reactions and temperaments.

I'm just pissed that people who haven't gone through this shit get so shocked and horrified at some really common sentiments among abuse survivors.

#saying ''bro are you okay??'' at a REALLY common sentiment is so stupid #no dude we are not fucking okay!!! #there is no way to BE okay when you have this type of life #the closest thing you get to okay is not wanting to kill yourself for a while and maybe finding a bit of joy during the day #but you still have to live with the knowledge that you will never get that safe childhood. your brain will never be normal #you will just be fucked up for your entire life. there will always be triggers and flashbacks and the chance of you slipping back into shit #even if we get over a lot of things (doubtful) our brain still never got the chance to develop properly. its going to be skewed forever #there's always going to be the chance of you relapsing back into having triggers or seeking out being abused bc its familiar #or other maladaptive behaviours #and i KNOWWW this sounds pessimistic and I'm being a huge downer right now lmfao I'm so goddamn aware #but I'm pissed the hell off at people being so shitty to abuse survivors who don't act all nice and pleasant all the time #not to say we should get a free ticket to being a piece of shit all the time but just like. if we're not hurting anyone... shut up. yknow? #chase on the mic #abuse tw

[creepiefarm]

i hate u ppl who took everything jay ever said about tim as Fact

#u were supposed to See and Figure Out that jay is an unreliable narrator struggling w trust and being made extra paranoid/mistrustful bc of #operator sickness. but instead they took it as confirmation that tim is lying and hiding things for Bad Dangerous Reasons #and not like. yknow. his own safety and primary? cuz jay wasn't actually owed any knowledge of tim's personal medical history? #*privacy not primary #tim was not lying about the things ppl say he was (ie not remembering when masky fronts). the few times he did lie was about things that #only affected his own safety and privacy. n i just (bites u bites u bites u bites u) #no one even said anything today i just saw a quote and it made me think about how many ppl just blindly beliehe jay #AND I GET IT! to an extent. i'm bad at unreliable narrators bc Autism. i spent the first season n a half being like ughhhh #i just don't think alex is up to anything good :/ but jay trusts him so i guess! i have to #but that's why mh has entry 59. that's why it has jessica. to make sure You the Viewer r realizing how jay is acting is Not Goof #by that point ur supposed to realize he has a skewed view of everyone around him #n im not saying jay was all bad or that he had bad intentions bc i think he genuinely wanted to help n make sure alex n jessica were ok #i'm just saying i get pissed off when ppl take what he Said as proof that tim was lying n scary and bleh #help these tags are infinitely longer than my post. anyway i gotta get back to farming #creepie.txt

[mooremars]

Okay so there is a part in Spain where Andrew Burnap's character and his girlfriend (where it is sort of unclear how much of their relationship is real and how much is dictated by the KGB, look I'm not smart enough to explain the plot of this thing so just go with me here) have roughly the following exchange that got me way too hard.

"As your boyfriend or your colleague?"

"Both"

"But if you had to choose?"

"Both"

And my brain just could not stop going wait did he just get business partners-ed? The rest of the audience chuckled but I fucking lost it. It's not even that funny with this context but to me... to me it was.

#it's late and i started laughing about this again so thought i should share #like i don't know how detailed the audience notes if there are any for this show are #but based on some of the audience notes i've heard from my friend #there is a solid chance someone did write down that one person laughed way too hard at this one joke #maybe i should not have been allowed during previews don't want to skew things by being a camelot freak #he also said 'how do you know' in exactly the same way as he did in camelot when genny says merlyn couldn't see the future #and my hands were so clenched i was having such a reaction #that was my other shining moment of being fine #i saw the second stage instagram account repost someone's story referencing camelot and i'd love to know if they also had this thought #This Barbie can't shut up about Camelot #Charlotte for ts

[spaghett-onaplate]

not gonna lie man it is not all good in the neighbourhood rn

#i was getting homesick when i was on holiday but now that im home its just so. ugh. #The Darkness Creeps Forth Once More #the food is shit im annoyed at my family im annoyed at myself the house is always messy #i dont get anything done i just rot in bed forever and ever #except now at least i have work #which is either a good or bad thing #good for money and getting out of the house but kind of. ugh. #im sleeping too much but im always so tired all the food tastes the same and makes me feel nauseous #the cats don't have any food and it's stressing me out and it's like i don't recognise them anymore #after being away for less than a week ?? but still #my sense of time is so skewed im fucked in the head i just want to go to school again #my dysphoria is so bad and my dad is so fucking unsupportive but cant admit it #hrrrrrrvhvhbdj its fine it will be okay I Will Persevere #at least im seeing my friends tomorrow :( #i just want my depression to fuck off #for one goddamn minute

[maeamian]

Everyone's always hitting up my ask box going, "Hello, Reverend Wrath, what video games do you recommend I play?" and I mostly delete them because I'm a very private person and that sort of personal information is far too revealing, but on this, All Saint's Eve, I've got one for you all.

If you're into the sorta farming life simulation game that Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley are, I've been having a good deal of fun with Sun Haven, it's a somewhat more Fantasy twist than those two genre defining pillars (although of course hardly the first to do so), and I think they've done a very good and thoughtful job with the mechanics in terms of making the fun things rewarding and rewarding having fun. If you're into that sort of game, Sun Haven has the Rev. Wrath Seal of Approval

#Don't wanna spoil too much that's going on but one of the high level farming skills makes your animals happy #but has no mechanical benefit whatsoever it tells you that right up front you can just spend a skill point for your animals to be happy #It's also got a skill that gives you a little bit of gold per day per furniture in your house #Not enough that you'll wanna spam the cheapest thing to earn it but also enough that it overcomes the price based mental barrier for decor #Like in SDV I'd often put off doing any house decorating for a while so that I could get the money machine running quicker #And while that makes sense with the incentives there this helps skew them enough to change that behavior a bit #Which like don't get me wrong I could play the other way without incentives if I wanted obviously but it's nicer if the game has them #Just overall I think the skill trees and game design have well considered mechanical reinforcements for doing whatever you want to do #Like I don't have to take that decor skill point if I were more strongly inclined to decorate anyhow or alternatively less #Will say: when it comes to combat the magic route seems to definitely be the strongest #IMO #Also the premise is a lie just in case you weren't sure about that #Or as we in the biz call it 'a bit'

[austinwehaveaproblem]

I used 2 not get mitski and then francis forever was on my band's setlist a few month's back and *screams*

#I MISS YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING!!!!! #austin's problems #i don't know what to do without you <|:( i don't know where to put my hands <|:( #i wish people were more mentally ill about me #can somebody hurt me and then obsessively check my account and get giddy when they see how bad i'm doing. #would fix me (not true) #vent in tags #oh boy #fyo was agreeing that i have a skewed perception of love... like genuinely is someone stalking or being violent to you Not romantic #it's the sweetest thing! to be that devoted! #i jsut want someone who will never leave me ever actually #but alas. literally everyone i know will inevitably abandon me even if not soon </3 rip!!!

[pickyperkypenguin]

And I should be on the lookout. It is not working out.

#well i tried bc that place has incredibly solid advantages #but it seems it's another thing where i don't use what talents i have and instead i do in a very mediocre way #apparently from the outside it looks like i am tired to the point of loosing the will to life #and as much as i have that sense in me rather skewed and comparing to my lowest i feel i am maybe not flying but surely not crawling #in the mud and certainly not scratching from beneath #my closest people are concerned #and my wife told me frankly 'you don't have to feel like shit when you are working' #it is something i don't really even remember as a possibility #trauma really fucks up some responses and boudaries eh? #my survival instinct has been really sanded down to a minimum #that is not helpful at all #now when i don't want to die as an everyday obvious thing #i struggle to remember that i can walk away from environments and situations that make me feel like i'm simultaneously drowning and being #burned on a stake #moreover that there are some things that maybe will let me live as in pay rent and both will be requiring from me what i can do well #i was really good at my former jobs and it was validated both by what people had told me and formal documents with results #it feels really sad when i just cannot promise oh i will do better when i know i am at my max already and it is not enough

[isekyaaa]

Going through my favorite webtoons, my recommendations are (in no particular order):

The Tyrant's Sister

The Villainess Flips the Script!

Mother's Contract Marriage

I'll Save This Damned Family

Marriage of Convenience

Saving My Sweetheart

Bring the Love

Seducing the Monster Duke

Little Miss Sidekick

My Father, the Possessive Demi-God

Honorable Mentions:

I've Reincarnated Into a Handmaiden!

A Talented Maid

Your Ultimate Love Rival

The Fantasies of a Stepmother

A Wicked Tale of Cinderella's Stepmom

Villains Are Destined to Die

For Better or For Worse

#rambles #all of these are/will eventually be romance #looking at my list of faves though i honestly didn't.... realize my taste in romance and relationships were like.... #more relationships of equality haha #for the most part independent and a strong (not feminist strong) mcs #and male leads that for the most part let the mcs do what they want #the mcs are not necessarily women that can do anything and everything falls in their favorite #they're not necessarily headstrong or super smart or calculated #the relationships are not necessarily heavily skewed to one side of the other #i-if u ignore 'what it means to be you' #don't read that one if you dislike angst and no comfort but like the payoff is sooooooooOOOOOOOO GOOD #the honorable mentions are things that i generally did like but had flaws in some way #but still otherwise pretty good #the 'mother's contract marriage' and 'my father the possessive demi-god' have actual non isekai'd/reincarnated kids as the mc #the first one the mc is absolutely lovable and cute but not in a forced and annoying way. you can tell she's a kid but she has depth #the second one is like.... wow. i love the bond between the sisters in the second one and just mc in general. i just really it a lot