Manga Shoggoth's pre holiday Random Banter Thread #246

[halfeye]

My wife made one of our go-to curry meals last night and it was a double batch, so I have all my lunches set for the week

It’s gonna be a good one :)

I was somehow reminded by that that school curries always had just one or two inflated saltanas in each serving of them, whereas most (probably more authentic) curries don't.

[Ionathus]

I was somehow reminded by that that school curries always had just one or two inflated saltanas in each serving of them, whereas most (probably more authentic) curries don't.

Yeah she puts raisins in this one too

Authentic be damned, the taste is incredible.

[Anonymouswizard]

I was somehow reminded by that that school curries always had just one or two inflated saltanas in each serving of them, whereas most (probably more authentic) curries don't.

Authentic to which cuisine?

[halfeye]

Authentic to which cuisine?

Anything other than school dinners?

[Anonymouswizard]

Anything other than school dinners?

I'm certain I've had fruit in curries before, and raisins would be a natural one to use. I'm fairly certain it is authentic, for certain styles.

[halfeye]

I'm certain I've had fruit in curries before, and raisins would be a natural one to use. I'm fairly certain it is authentic, for certain styles.

I'm blooming certain standard school curry is not authentic to anything other than standard school meals. Which is not to say that school meals are bad.

[Rater202]

You ever see a TV Show that you like but there's just one episode that has one part that just sort of ticks you off?

From 2008 to 2010, Animal Planet aired a show called Lost Tapes, which was a series of half-hour-long found footage 'documentaries' describing encounters with cryptids, mythological creatures, or otherwise supernatural entities interspaced with mythological information and animal facts.

Now there are some... Leaps in logic, some mythological inaccuracies—some more tolerable than others—and an... odd amount of artistic license involved in some of the biology, but it was still rather entertaining... But there's one episode

It's a great episode, except for the very last bit.

The monster of the week for the episode is... The Wendigo.

There's no mythological inaccuracies in the "documentary" segments, they're pretty straight up in what the creature supposedly was and how it would be created. They also touch on Wendigo psychosis and the mental health effects of prolonged starvation and the like, and the "Found footage" segments is...

Honestly, for most of the episode, there's no evidence that anything supernatural has gone on. It's just a group of teenagers stranded in the darkness with no food getting increasingly desperate and one of them starts to crack from stress and hunger. It's good acting, it's something that could actually happen, and it is probably the ingle most terrifying episode of the show for exactly that reason.

when the supernatural does occur, it looks like they're going mythologically accurate with the Wendigo's form as the boy who snapped and reverted to cannibalism begins transforming... But we only see the start of the change, the next bit of found footage is a rescue team finding the one survivor only for the rescue team to also be preyed upon by the Wendigo with us not seeing it, only hearing it.

...The very last shot of the episode is the wendigo looking into the camera and... Deer skull. Just a guy with a deer skull for a head. They were doing so well and then they went with an idea for the creature that was dreamed up for a 2001 B movie.

[LaZodiac]

You ever see a TV Show that you like but there's just one episode that has one part that just sort of ticks you off?

From 2008 to 2010, Animal Planet aired a show called Lost Tapes, which was a series of half-hour-long found footage 'documentaries' describing encounters with cryptids, mythological creatures, or otherwise supernatural entities interspaced with mythological information and animal facts.

Now there are some... Leaps in logic, some mythological inaccuracies—some more tolerable than others—and an... odd amount of artistic license involved in some of the biology, but it was still rather entertaining... But there's one episode

It's a great episode, except for the very last bit.

The monster of the week for the episode is... The Wendigo.

There's no mythological inaccuracies in the "documentary" segments, they're pretty straight up in what the creature supposedly was and how it would be created. They also touch on Wendigo psychosis and the mental health effects of prolonged starvation and the like, and the "Found footage" segments is...

Honestly, for most of the episode, there's no evidence that anything supernatural has gone on. It's just a group of teenagers stranded in the darkness with no food getting increasingly desperate and one of them starts to crack from stress and hunger. It's good acting, it's something that could actually happen, and it is probably the ingle most terrifying episode of the show for exactly that reason.

when the supernatural does occur, it looks like they're going mythologically accurate with the Wendigo's form as the boy who snapped and reverted to cannibalism begins transforming... But we only see the start of the change, the next bit of found footage is a rescue team finding the one survivor only for the rescue team to also be preyed upon by the Wendigo with us not seeing it, only hearing it.

...The very last shot of the episode is the wendigo looking into the camera and... Deer skull. Just a guy with a deer skull for a head. They were doing so well and then they went with an idea for the creature that was dreamed up for a 2001 B movie.

They had to make it wrong because like with The Nameless Play, if you say the creature's name you'll invite bad luck... and also because you're not SUPPOSED to say its name, it's taboo.

God though, they went the most... boring way they could with it.

[DavidSh]

I'm blooming certain standard school curry is not authentic to anything other than standard school meals. Which is not to say that school meals are bad.

Still, I see raisins as part of the garnish on a lot of on-line recipes for Kerala-style biryanis, put out by various expatriate Indians. I suppose this isn't, strictly speaking, curry.

Unspecified "authentic" is not as useful a term as "authentically Punjabi", "authentically Kansai", or "authentically Birminghami".

[Rater202]

They had to make it wrong because like with The Nameless Play, if you say the creature's name you'll invite bad luck... and also because you're not SUPPOSED to say its name, it's taboo.

I'm not familiar with that part of the legend. Also they said it's name several times in the episode so... Oops?

God though, they went the most... boring way they could with it.

Wha'ts worse, they had some pretty good practical effects in the episode and had already shown the boy with the elongated teeth and crazed expression earlier in the episode.

They couldn't have done a bit more makeup to make his face a bit more sunken in or rubbed some fake blood around his mouth or eyes or something?

Or had him on stilts off in the distance at night?

What's worse? In the movie that started the "deer skull" trend there's a very real possibility that the spirit was just a figment of one man's imagination as he goes mad and the director has admitted that he was going off of half-remembered details he picked up in school and greatly regrets not doing more research.

[TaiLiu]

Yes, they did but they closed my case in 2017 and I have to reapply to ACCESS-VR again.

Oh, I see. That makes sense.

[LaZodiac]

I feel like surgery has gotta **** with your brain chemistry.

Like, not just in the sense that many major surgeries have them pump you full of sleepyjuice and pain killers. I mean in the sense that basically every surgery is a physical wound that in any other situation would absolutely kill you. And while our monkey brain has created a societal understanding that sometimes pain is good, the lizard brain is still screaming "hey we almost got killed what the **** was that brah????"

I'm not insane right?

[TaiLiu]

I feel like surgery has gotta **** with your brain chemistry.

Like, not just in the sense that many major surgeries have them pump you full of sleepyjuice and pain killers. I mean in the sense that basically every surgery is a physical wound that in any other situation would absolutely kill you. And while our monkey brain has created a societal understanding that sometimes pain is good, the lizard brain is still screaming "hey we almost got killed what the **** was that brah????"

I'm not insane right?

I don't think so. Being cut open has gotta be traumatic and scary in a lot of ways.

[Rater202]

I feel like surgery has gotta **** with your brain chemistry.

Like, not just in the sense that many major surgeries have them pump you full of sleepyjuice and pain killers. I mean in the sense that basically every surgery is a physical wound that in any other situation would absolutely kill you. And while our monkey brain has created a societal understanding that sometimes pain is good, the lizard brain is still screaming "hey we almost got killed what the **** was that brah????"

I'm not insane right?

1: As I get older I become more and more convinced that sanity as is commonly understood is a myth.

2: I'm not sure about directly affecting brain chemistry, but just the anticipation of surgery can be traumatic, let alone recovering through the aftermath of a major procedure.

So no, you're probably not insane.

[LaZodiac]

1: As I get older I become more and more convinced that sanity as is commonly understood is a myth.

2: I'm not sure about directly affecting brain chemistry, but just the anticipation of surgery can be traumatic, let alone recovering through the aftermath of a major procedure.

So no, you're probably not insane.

While that's true, my intent was "does this sound sensible, or does it sound like I've disconnected myself from reality".

Yeah, that's a good point. And my idea RE it affecting brain chemistry is that like, from the human stand point, this is "we are going to be fatally wounded, and now have been" and that's gotta do something to the more animal part of you. I'm sitting here recovering from something that should have killed me (not for the first time!) and I'm curious just what that does to the part of my brain that says "if I get fatally wounded that's it for me chief".

[Rater202]

While that's true, my intent was "does this sound sensible, or does it sound like I've disconnected myself from reality".

Yeah, that's a good point. And my idea RE it affecting brain chemistry is that like, from the human stand point, this is "we are going to be fatally wounded, and now have been" and that's gotta do something to the more animal part of you. I'm sitting here recovering from something that should have killed me (not for the first time!) and I'm curious just what that does to the part of my brain that says "if I get fatally wounded that's it for me chief".

...It sounds logical but that's not my area of expertise.

[halfeye]

1: As I get older I become more and more convinced that sanity as is commonly understood is a myth.

I sort of think I know what you're trying to say, but the implication would seem to be that insanity is also a myth, and that's not even close to right. There are all sorts of altered and changed states that are perhaps survivable and tolerable, but there are definitely a few fairly rare states that are just not. I wouldn't want to be the person to define where the boundaries of e.g. psychosis are, or how far across the boundaries is too far, but I'm pretty clear that there is a much too far.

[Anonymouswizard]

I'm blooming certain standard school curry is not authentic to anything other than standard school meals.

And I'm saying that it might be more authentic to certain styles/cuisines than you realise. Quick googling suggests it's a 1950s British twist, but some parts of India add things like mango.

Which is not to say that school meals are bad.

You'll be in a minority there.

I'm not familiar with that part of the legend. Also they said it's name several times in the episode so... Oops?.

I've only heard of it because I'm a Werewolf: the Apocalypse fan, but it's definitely not something to say. I believe if you're being mythologically accurate it's also a lot more than just a man-eating monster.

I feel like surgery has gotta **** with your brain chemistry.

Like, not just in the sense that many major surgeries have them pump you full of sleepyjuice and pain killers. I mean in the sense that basically every surgery is a physical wound that in any other situation would absolutely kill you. And while our monkey brain has created a societal understanding that sometimes pain is good, the lizard brain is still screaming "hey we almost got killed what the **** was that brah????"

That all sounds reasonable.

ZI'm not insane right?

This part I'm reserving judgement on

[Rater202]

I believe if you're being mythologically accurate it's also a lot more than just a man-eating monster.

Yeah. Stepping lightly and keeping it brief, the term tends to be used interchangeably for someone who is cursed to become an obligate anthropophagic being and the spirit or spirts that do the cursing. Also, in some dialects, it also means "owl" which has some fun implications that I have not had time to research.

The actual monster isn't a mere "zombie" type situation but is imbued with terrifying supernatural powers which usually include unnatural strength and speed and being a pain in the ass to kill—if they can be killed at all—but also sometimes includes things like causing hallucinations, flight, always being able to get to you even if it should be physically impossible... It tends to be strongly associated with cold and wind but I'm not sure if having actual powers over one or both is mythologically accurate or a later embellishment.

[Jasdoif]

I feel like surgery has gotta **** with your brain chemistry.

Like, not just in the sense that many major surgeries have them pump you full of sleepyjuice and pain killers. I mean in the sense that basically every surgery is a physical wound that in any other situation would absolutely kill you. And while our monkey brain has created a societal understanding that sometimes pain is good, the lizard brain is still screaming "hey we almost got killed what the **** was that brah????"

I'm not insane right?

While I'm not sure it's necessarily/directly brain chemistry, I had similar thoughts after my first eye surgery, when I noticed my metabolism had reduced (desire to eat lessened, lower baseline blood sugar).

[Rater202]

So apparently there was a meme going around a few years ago saying that you rap name was "Lil" and then the last reason you were at the hospital.

so.. Mine is "Lil Inexplicable Two-Foot-Bloodclott," but back before I was 18 it was "Lil Inexplicable Kindey Stone"

I've been to the hospital twice in my life, both for buildups/obstructions in the ductwork that the doctors have no idea where the hell they came from or what caused it.

...and they were fourteen years apart...

If I vanish for a week or so in two years, that's probably why.

[Batcathat]

It's been a long time since I had to go to the hospital, but I think my name would be Lil' Swine Flu, which is certainly... memorable.

That is assuming it's for the last reason I had to visit the hospital, rather than the last time I was in the building, in which case my name would be Lil' Blood Donor. Not sure whether that's better or worse, actually.

[Rater202]

It's been a long time since I had to go to the hospital, but I think my name would be Lil' Swine Flu, which is certainly... memorable.

That is assuming it's for the last reason I had to visit the hospital, rather than the last time I was in the building, in which case my name would be Lil' Blood Donor. Not sure whether that's better or worse, actually.

One of the responses I've seen was "Lil Dad Died" so...

[Batcathat]

One of the responses I've seen was "Lil Dad Died" so...

Oh, that is so funny and so sad at the same time.

[Anonymouswizard]

Yo, I'm MC Lil' Regular Opthalmology Appointment

Although I've also been in twice for ingrown toenails, interestingly about a decade and a half apart.

Of course no e if us can beat Zodi's rap name.

[Bartmanhomer]

Hey everyone. Today I got my updated COVID shot and flu shot at Duane Reade.

[LaZodiac]

So apparently there was a meme going around a few years ago saying that you rap name was "Lil" and then the last reason you were at the hospital.

so.. Mine is "Lil Inexplicable Two-Foot-Bloodclott," but back before I was 18 it was "Lil Inexplicable Kindey Stone"

I've been to the hospital twice in my life, both for buildups/obstructions in the ductwork that the doctors have no idea where the hell they came from or what caused it.

...and they were fourteen years apart...

If I vanish for a week or so in two years, that's probably why.

Hey folks it's me your MC for the night, Lil' Major Reconstructive Surgery.

Or if you want to get saucy (and directly accurate with the minutia), Lil' Vaginoplasty (leans in close to the mic for some ASMR ass voice) with cavity.

Anyway yeah Rater that sounds like a "thing that should be looked more into" to me, especially if it does happen again in two years. That's already a little too regular imho.

One of the responses I've seen was "Lil Dad Died" so...

**** this (and the reaction to it) made me laugh so hard I hurt. Owie.

[Anonymouswizard]

Or if you want to get saucy (and directly accurate with the minutia), Lil' Vaginoplasty (leans in close to the mic for some ASMR ass voice) with cavity.

No, don't do the voice! It's almost as bad as Abigail Thorn saying to put the cat ears on!

*Runs away*

[Jasdoif]

It's been a long time since I had to go to the hospital, but I think my name would be Lil' Swine Flu, which is certainly... memorable.

That is assuming it's for the last reason I had to visit the hospital, rather than the last time I was in the building, in which case my name would be Lil' Blood Donor. Not sure whether that's better or worse, actually.

I can relate; it's "Lil' Ketoacidosis" for the last time I was checked into the hospital vs "Lil' Blood Work" for the last time I was in a hospital building...unless I'm supposed to be reading "hospital" loosely enough to include clinic visits, in which case it's "Lil' Eyeball Injections".

In any case it's a tough call...."Lil' Blood Work" may sound mundane compared to the other two, but I can tap my younger sibling's joke about "visiting the professional vampires" to offset that. So could you, come to think of it....

[LaZodiac]

I can relate; it's "Lil' Ketoacidosis" for the last time I was checked into the hospital vs "Lil' Blood Work" for the last time I was in a hospital building...unless I'm supposed to be reading "hospital" loosely enough to include clinic visits, in which case it's "Lil' Eyeball Injections".

In any case it's a tough call...."Lil' Blood Work" may sound mundane compared to the other two, but I can tap my younger sibling's joke about "visiting the professional vampires" to offset that. So could you, come to think of it....

Oh hey that would have been me like not even a month ago!

... and if you'd asked me this question before that, my answer would have been blank since that was my first time being put into hospital, now that I think about it. Huh.