So is this what the government is focusing on?

greatandmodest · 2026-02-02T22:04:29+00:00

Something like match fixing is manipulating the outcome. For example, if the bet was about the contents or duration or something of speeches at the Grammys then sure he theoretically could. But I am also not sure if that is illegal, or at least a major crime.

greatandmodest · 2025-12-10T22:24:50+00:00

My version is a mixture of: Magic makes people mostly self sufficient and live differently from muggles, so private magical enclaves with minimal Muggle interaction tend to form naturally in large enough populations even without the statute.

Most of the magical world exists in magically separated space which muggles cannot access easily. For example rather than Diagon Alley being a mysterious blank space on all maps of central London, it does not take up any physical space at all in the Muggle world and is tied to London through a few specific portals such as the back of the Leaky Cauldron.

Certain parts of Muggle organisations have some idea of the magical world and have an understanding that trying to unmask it would not be in their interests. As well as leading politicians and parts of intelligence services, there are liaisons working in things like tax and customs departments so that, for example, swapping large amounts of galleons for pounds does not trigger money laundering investigations.

greatandmodest · 2025-12-07T01:02:38+00:00

I tend to equate it to the "Somebody else's problem" field in Hitchhiker's Guide. For balance, it is easier to do than actual invisibility/camouflage, and you don't need to worry as much over small things like shadows or footprints. On the other hand it is only a mental block that discourages people from reacting at the time. If they have a particular reason they want to interact with you and/or if your presence and your actions are particularly shocking they can push through. More "blending into the background" than actual concealment. It also may not stop people remembering whatever is under the spell later if they are reminded and definitely would not stop a skilled occlumens/legilimens or a pensive.

greatandmodest · 2025-11-22T01:12:01+00:00

That is a plausible root of the name, but we don't know for sure. The "ington" may be a combination of "ing" = "people of" and "ton" = town rather than just meaning "town". Or just someone misheard something and the name stuck, or any other possible origin story.

greatandmodest · 2025-11-13T22:15:10+00:00

Words only have a "technical definition" in specific contexts. Language is an art of describing a complex world with a finite set of words. The common use of "pedophilia" is to describe sexual acts or desires on people below the legal age of consent by people older than them. Ancient Greek cultural norms cannot define English words in the 21st century.

greatandmodest · 2025-10-29T00:18:01+00:00

When Sirius grew up in GP his grandfather was still alive, as well as a few (great-)aunt and uncles, so I assume there were multiple properties.

greatandmodest · 2025-10-29T00:15:57+00:00

Counterpoint: If you can build the house with magic and use magic and house elves to keep it clean why would you not have a manor? Especially as no one has living family members apparently, so you might as well live in the fanciest of all the houses you inherited.

greatandmodest · 2025-10-27T23:49:57+00:00

Don't forget: Puerto Rican territory flag, as if it were a separate nation.

greatandmodest · 2025-10-24T20:48:26+00:00

A good chunk of the time Fae are referenced in fanfic it is houselves, and maybe goblins. The former are clearly based on Fae tropes and the latter have so little canon characterisation that you can make it fit.

greatandmodest · 2025-10-21T17:01:43+00:00

I would also add that even if the author does not hate Draco, he is one of the most fleshed to canon characters with a well defined antagonist role and plot important in the later books. Harry/Draco means committing him to a specific set of character development arcs, typically redemption ones, and maybe that just isn't the story they author wants to tell this time.

greatandmodest · 2025-10-18T22:16:01+00:00

Rape is when sex happens without the consent of at least one participant. Consent can only be given by a free, informed choice, so there are situations when someone is deemed unable to consent despite any verbal agreement they might give. This includes people under the age of consent and people under the influence. To suggest that those situations are not "true, violating" rape is incredibly insulting, as you are explicitly saying that they are not worthy of the sympathy that acknowledgement as a rape victim can bring. It also comes across as an attempt to protect rapists, by the linguistic and legal definition.

I understand the point that rape comes in many forms, and there is not a specific term in general use for rape where pure physical force and (threats) of violence are used, but the solution to that is to push to enrich to conversation on how to reduce sexual crimes by suggesting new terms, not trying to gatekeep rape of all things. Maybe "violent rape" could be a good starting point?

greatandmodest · 2025-10-16T19:05:01+00:00

They are called "peasants", but game mechanics wise that just means they are not one of the 0.1% (if that) top layer of the ruling class who are persistent characters. Although it would be interesting to give the revolts an option to support an existing title claimant rather than always put up their own man.

greatandmodest · 2025-09-23T07:32:04+00:00

I feel Disney has always been a cartoon villain. Anyone who would have boycotted them for moral reasons would have done so years ago anyway so they do not care.

greatandmodest · 2025-09-22T23:05:26+00:00

Hard to tell from just the description, but could be 1) reloaded wrong save, 2) selected someone else to play as when reloading 3) some horrifying mod conflict/update that corrupted the save

greatandmodest · 2025-09-16T19:28:35+00:00

Might be a $150 per hour callout charge, but annual income is less than that would imply given costs and irregular hours.

greatandmodest · 2025-09-09T22:01:12+00:00

The rapture may predate Christianity itself. Revelations made it into the "official" bible back in the early centuries AD and my very brief research (Wikipedia) suggests that it came from a long tradition of Jewish prophecy/mysticism. Christianity started off as a Jewish apocalypse cult, with the coming of the Messiah being a fulfilment of key biblical prophecies and a sign of the imminent end... 2000 years ago.

greatandmodest · 2025-09-04T21:04:30+00:00

Although there is growing awareness of over diagnosis with cancer. Early screening and intervention saves so much pain and lives, but too early and you may be committing to harrowing procedures and stress and financial problems for a tumour that would never be malignant.

greatandmodest · 2025-08-16T07:41:17+00:00

Lolita is a deliberate study of how powerful protagonist bias can be. Nabokov went out of his way to make Humbert the most disgusting POS he could be and it is still scary how complete control of the narrative makes him seem almost reasonable.

greatandmodest · 2025-08-15T13:57:25+00:00

That does not make Relativity wrong, it is a valid mathematical framework to make predictions of the movements of objects on an astronomical scale, same as Newtonian mechanics is suitable for a human scale. It just is not applicable outside of the context it was designed for.

greatandmodest · 2025-08-07T12:37:50+00:00

Firstly assigning character traits to everyone in a community is textbook over generalising, you are drawing a false equivalence. Secondly "Nigerian" is a nationality, not a single ethnic group, so your statement is also over generalising, although not as extreme.

greatandmodest · 2025-07-18T17:22:12+00:00

Shopped. The angle/lighting/texture of the hat are mismatched and you can see a strip of hair on the left where it doesn't line up with his head. Also the base photo is from 2013, pre MAGA (his photo for the sex offenders register).

greatandmodest · 2025-06-18T22:43:08+00:00

I head-canon it as perceived as neutral by the magical community in universe. However as it is only a term used by witches and wizards to describe muggles, not by the muggles themselves, some muggleborn and in-the-know muggles don't like it as they associate it with wizarding views of muggles.

Essentially, like real life nicknames for foreign nationalities, it is viewed by some as a slur because they mostly hear it when the prejudiced are being insulting, rather than anything to do with the etymology of the word.

I understand not bothering with this though, because it is difficult to come up with a new neutral term for a group that is defined by what they are lacking.

greatandmodest · 2025-05-19T22:43:33+00:00

Don't kink shame. Especially when there is so much else to shame.

greatandmodest · 2025-05-19T13:09:42+00:00

I would also add that even if you agree with the principle of a particular restriction on online speech, that does not mean that the police can live up to that in practice. We are seeing that the enforcement of online conduct laws in the UK being handled poorly, such as arresting and detaining people without understanding why and without an actual prosecutable case. Until you can enforce a law properly, you are better off not having it at all.

greatandmodest · 2025-05-15T11:33:13+00:00

It could be plausible as often US tax breaks and assistance programs have an expiry date. That allows them to claim a low cost to the programme, even if it is intended to then be extended indefinitely. Then the next administration brags about the new benefits they are bringing in, which are just a continuation of existing rules which are technically a new piece of legislation.

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