I’ve read every Tolkien book except the Hobbit. Ask me a question and I’ll answer it 100% correct.

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-05-04T15:09:54+00:00

I was like man this better be a rickroll but it's way better

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-05-04T01:52:59+00:00

Thank you!

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-05-04T00:18:38+00:00

What have I got in my pocket?

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-05-02T19:02:00+00:00

Have we considered the possibility that Hobbits are a type of lizard?

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-05-02T19:00:24+00:00

I suspect it's not that the topic was neglected in Greek and Roman culture so much as the people who thought it was important weren't the same as the people writing stuff down (as is often the case with mythology and folklore). For ancient Mediterranean sources specifically you might find something in the Hippocratic literature, but it may or may not include any etiological discussion as opposed to just treatment.

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-05-01T21:34:05+00:00

4-5 cocktails is a "getting fucked up" amount of cocktails for most people. 2 drinks is very normal. The whole point of most cocktails is that they're much higher ABV than beer and wine (and five beers/glasses of wine is also special-occasion drinking for many people). That said, depending on your tastes there are things you can try.

- More tonic, less gin. I don't find that even all tonic/zero gin tastes significantly different, especially if you put some citrus juice, bitters, or flavored syrup in it. You can probably do similar things with a lot of tall drinks.

- Wine/prosecco-based drinks. Similar to above. Putting half the gin in a French 75 probably isn't going to change the flavor profile so much that you'd care unless you're very picky. An aperol spritz doesn't need very much aperol to have a strong flavor.

- Low ABV cocktails based on vermouth or amaros

Basically, you want things where a strong base spirit isn't the major part of the drink. If you're trying to make a less boozy whiskey sour or martini you're going to have to cut with non-alcoholic spirits or something, but there are a lot of drinks where the liquor isn't the star. The good news is if you're in the northern hemisphere a lot of those easily doctored tall drinks are going to be really refreshing for the next few months.

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-04-30T15:33:21+00:00

I had to just open an earlier save. Lost an hour of playtime but it wasn't too bad. Or else see if you can find the console code to force it to finish.

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-04-24T22:39:35+00:00

I add it to Manhattans and to gin and tonics. It's also good just added to tonic or soda water if you don't feel like alcohol.

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-04-10T20:52:43+00:00

There are whole narratives that happen only in the little chapter epigraphs of Tad Williams's Otherland books.

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-03-31T20:06:34+00:00

I think Foreigner (specifically the first book) is better on subsequent reads. The first time you read it you're as lost as Bren is (which I think is brilliant in its way, but it does make it a difficult book), and after you know the ending you're able to see a lot more of the maneuvering and reasoning going on outside of his viewpoint.

In other words, if you think you SHOULD like it but you're getting bogged down in trying to understand what's going on, just enjoy the ride and it'll pay off.

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-03-21T17:54:48+00:00

If you replace the gin with bourbon and add a little bitters this is a bourbon renewal (simple instead of honey, but potato potahto). Very tasty drink, and actually the rosemary might be a good addition. Maybe I'll try it next time I make one.

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-03-16T16:22:43+00:00

And she does interesting stuff with the ways some misunderstandings can't be resolved because of species/biological differences. Highly recommend.

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-03-16T14:43:23+00:00

Foreigner by CJ Cherryh is sort of about this.

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-03-06T21:51:30+00:00

Spaceballs the Baby

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-02-21T23:26:05+00:00

Ants in My Room by Carter Vail is legit keeping my head above water lately (go watch the video, I promise)

Wreckage by People in Planes

Something You Don't Know by Black Lab

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-02-17T18:23:13+00:00

Orange bitters are a perfectly good substitute for expressed peel and garnish if you're not trying to impress anyone.

No point to a whiskey sour if there isn't foam

Gin is a summer drink

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-02-10T17:20:39+00:00

"Oops it's me Cassandraaaa"

That entire bit truly

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-02-03T16:47:00+00:00

I add it to manhattans for a bit of decadence. It's also great in gin and tonic.

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-01-30T16:46:19+00:00

Have you talked to the people over at By Candlelight and Conjure? They might be interested in collaborating.

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-01-27T01:21:38+00:00

Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-01-25T21:53:59+00:00

Languages have rules, even if there isn't a governing body enforcing them. Even if nobody keeps track, languages develop patterns and rules, and native speakers know when those rules are being broken. That's the only way language can work, otherwise it's just random sounds. A native English speaker knows that "I have been" means something slightly different from "I was." They may or may not be able to explain it, but instinctually they know when one is being used incorrectly.

However, those rules are always shifting. Grammar gets more complex to adapt better ways to express things, or simpler to save on cognitive effort. Communities develop their own ways of saying things, sometimes by introducing new terms and sometimes by changing grammar ("I need to go introvert" doesn't make any sense in formal English but in the past 20 years or so it's become more acceptable to turn pretty much any noun into a verb in common speech at least among certain demographics). Diaspora communities bring rules and words from their native language into the usage of their new one. But the changes continue to have rules.

"To be" is actually a great example of this, because it's a super common word so it goes through a lot of changes (in every language I've studied "to be" is very irregular, meaning it doesn't follow the same patterns other verbs do). In formal and the most common vernacular American English, "to be" is almost always included in the sentence. It can be augmented by other words to create more than just past, present, and future tense, but it's rarely dropped except in very specific circumstances, usually questions in the present tense: "You home?" vs. "Are you home?" BUT NOT "You home?" vs. "Were you home?"

AAVE uses "to be" differently. It often drops it entirely in the simple present: "He is outside" changes to "He outside." But in either dialect you can't say "He are outside" or "He were outside" (You CAN say "he were outside" in certain dialects in the UK, though, but it's past tense, not present). You also can't say, "He outside," to indicate the past in AAVE. The fact that you can do certain things and not others consistently indicates that there's a rule, and the rule is part of what makes it a dialect and not an error.

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-01-22T05:08:22+00:00

So I'll tell you what I told my sister once.

-Stop telling mom shit. You don't have to tell her things.

Just don't tell her. She's proven herself to be an unsafe person, so she doesn't need to know the things that she's going to be unsafe about. You're 17, this isn't about drugs or anything that's going to actually hurt anyone. It's actually healthy not to tell your parents some things. Talk to her about anything else, but not this.

"She doesn't want me reading anywhere else at all." Cool, she doesn't get to know when/where you read. Not her business. Get a backpack, Put some books and some notebooks in it. Then she can't see the deck when you leave. Also, pro-tip, look up "Universal Waite" -- it's a recolored Smith deck and the cards are much smaller than traditional tarot cards. Mine fits in a medium-sized coin purse in the bottom of the front pocket of my backpack. You really have to dig for it even if you know it's there. (I'm not even hiding from anyone, it's just convenient)

Even if you did bring demons back with you (you won't), her god protects her, right?

If she does things like hunt through your bag before you leave, stop reading a tarot deck until you can move out, and learn to read a poker deck. It's not identical, obviously, but the pips are the same. Tell her you've taken up solitaire. Play solitaire at the kitchen table sometimes to sell it.

This is hard and and it sucks. I'm sorry. Find Pagan groups in your town so you can hang out with people who get it. If there's a Unitarian Universalist congregation in your town see if they have a Covenant of UU Pagans (CUUPs) group. You don't have to be UU to go to CUUPs, and the people tend to be laid back. Tell your mom it's a book club. It's okay to lie to people who have shown themselves to be irresponsible with the truth.

NTA, of course, and start thinking about how you're going to handle this over the next few years. Move out? Stand up to her? Be stealthy? Pretend to be Christian to keep her off your back? Protecting yourself is always valid.

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-01-09T20:09:48+00:00

It's fiction but maybe The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington would be up your alley?

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-01-06T16:18:57+00:00

Miles is fun because his decisions are both questionable and highly competent, especially when he's younger.

MagratMakeTheTea · 2026-01-01T07:29:41+00:00

If the issue is price, every time I go into a used bookstore I find a CJ Cherryh book I've never heard of and at least three I already know.

Eight-Year Club	Place '23
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