Domino Quartz's Delightfully Quaint Random Banter Thread #248

[BisectedBrioche]

I, too, would like to know in what folklore witches can't eat sweet potatoes, and why.

I'm intrigued, and at this point it feels rude to Google.

[Rater202]

Rater, I also have no idea where your getting sweet potatoes from or why its even relevant to this conversation about Owl House, at all.

To me, its completely random and you just brought it up and not explained anything.

Please. Unpack.

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So about halfway through season 2 we get these scenes.

These are called back to later, notably nine episodes later when Luz greets Amity as "Sweet Potato" shortly before they kiss on the mouth for the first time.

In the third season premiere, we see "Batatas," which is to say, the Spanish for sweet potatoes, being legible on a list of food items that is briefly visible when Luz's mom is going over her notes regarding which food items witches can and can't eat, and it has an "N" circled next to it suggesting that they're in the 'no' pile. Either sweet potatoes are unpalatable to witches, or they can't digest them properly.

Either way, the terms of affection that Amity and Luz sometimes use for each other refer to food that Amity can't eat.

I find that ironic.

[Lord Raziere]

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okay.

that explains it, thank you, Rater.

Yeah that is a bit ironic. I guess because I don't know spanish I just missed that. stupid american education system.

[Rynjin]

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okay.

that explains it, thank you, Rater.

Yeah that is a bit ironic. I guess because I don't know spanish I just missed that. stupid american education system.

If you don't know any Spanish that was a choice, not a fault of the American education system. You're required to have a certain numbe rof language credits and I'm pretty sure Spanish is available at like every school in the US.

[Peelee]

Spoiler

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So about halfway through season 2 we get these scenes.

These are called back to later, notably nine episodes later when Luz greets Amity as "Sweet Potato" shortly before they kiss on the mouth for the first time.

In the third season premiere, we see "Batatas," which is to say, the Spanish for sweet potatoes, being legible on a list of food items that is briefly visible when Luz's mom is going over her notes regarding which food items witches can and can't eat, and it has an "N" circled next to it suggesting that they're in the 'no' pile. Either sweet potatoes are unpalatable to witches, or they can't digest them properly.

Either way, the terms of affection that Amity and Luz sometimes use for each other refer to food that Amity can't eat.

I find that ironic.

That wasn't a wall of text at all, but if you're concerned about being overly verbose, you could have shortened that to "the terms of affection that Amity and Luz sometimes use for each other refer to food that Amity can't eat."

If you don't know any Spanish that was a choice, not a fault of the American education system. You're required to have a certain numbe rof language credits and I'm pretty sure Spanish is available at like every school in the US.

And is usually a continuing choice (no judging).

[Rater202]

That wasn't a wall of text at all, but if you're concerned about being overly verbose, you could have shortened that to "the terms of affection that Amity and Luz sometimes use for each other refer to food that Amity can't eat."

The second-guessing of what I did and did not need to include was contributing to the wallness of the text in earlier attempts to answer the question.

[Lord Raziere]

And is usually a continuing choice (no judging).

Well maybe you aren't, but he clearly is. Regardless I don't appreciate being shamed about anything. So I'm not inclined to listen to anything that one say to me along those lines.

[LaZodiac]

Spoiler

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So about halfway through season 2 we get these scenes.

These are called back to later, notably nine episodes later when Luz greets Amity as "Sweet Potato" shortly before they kiss on the mouth for the first time.

In the third season premiere, we see "Batatas," which is to say, the Spanish for sweet potatoes, being legible on a list of food items that is briefly visible when Luz's mom is going over her notes regarding which food items witches can and can't eat, and it has an "N" circled next to it suggesting that they're in the 'no' pile. Either sweet potatoes are unpalatable to witches, or they can't digest them properly.

Either way, the terms of affection that Amity and Luz sometimes use for each other refer to food that Amity can't eat.

I find that ironic.

I actually appreciate the added context of the human world scene stuff because I completely forgot or did not notice the list of "food they can't eat". That's neat, thank you for explaining!

If you don't know any Spanish that was a choice, not a fault of the American education system. You're required to have a certain numbe rof language credits and I'm pretty sure Spanish is available at like every school in the US.

Even ignoring the fact that I doubt Spanish is available "at like every school in the US" because even if that's true it's entirely possible Raziere didn't go to a school that offered it... the reality is, "you have a program to learn a language that is Required" does not mean the program is any good at actually teaching you the language. Underfunding of schools means the ability to teach stuff like this gets reduced, which yes is a fault of the American education system at the very least- though it's hard to blame them when one considers that this is a problem that stems from faults in the American system as a whole.

[Keltest]

Speaking as someone who actually does speak Spanish, a lot of American high school school Spanish teachers are nowhere near fluent, and a lot of American students pass high school Spanish with high marks without ever developing any commutative competence.

The same could be said for English teachers in a lot of other countries, so I don't think it's an exclusively American problem.

High School courses arent intended to teach fluency, just the basics. You have to go on to college/university level courses to get that level of competency.

[Lord Raziere]

Even ignoring the fact that I doubt Spanish is available "at like every school in the US" because even if that's true it's entirely possible Raziere didn't go to a school that offered it... the reality is, "you have a program to learn a language that is Required" does not mean the program is any good at actually teaching you the language. Underfunding of schools means the ability to teach stuff like this gets reduced, which yes is a fault of the American education system at the very least- though it's hard to blame them when one considers that this is a problem that stems from faults in the American system as a whole.

To break it down let use Europe for a comparison:
USA: learn spanish in high school for a couple credits, not use any of it because the nation taking up like what, a third of a continent? all speaks english surrounds you and renders it useless, mexico? I'm northwestern, thats like......nearly a Europe away?

Europe: successfully become trilingual or whatever because you were taught different languages since you were a child because your surrounded by different nations with different languages and culture who live shorter distances away with long history behind them and so on.

as for my circumstances about this, those are personal and my experience that sharing such things should only done with those you trust and I've decided its best I only trust few people with details like that, especially online. if it was just Zodi and Rater I'd share, but on a public thread anyone can jump into? No.

[Keltest]

Right, but it really shoots you in the foot when the people you learn the basics from are just barely above basic themselves.

Meh. I don't need a theoretical physicist to teach me about gravity. 50% of what you learn in grade school is deliberately wrong, but in a useful way, because learning it right is time consuming and potentially not at all important for you.

[Rater202]

I actually appreciate the added context of the human world scene stuff because I completely forgot or did not notice the list of "food they can't eat". That's neat, thank you for explaining!

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The thing that gets me is.. Okay, so the first time it comes up in the second season premiere when Eda cites Luz not being able to eat most demon food as part of their financial difficulties, it can be inferred that she just sort of knows this because it's established that she doens't just go tot he human world to collect Junk to sell but has actually spent time there, she's been to a coffee shop, she's gone to movie theatres, and her use of the name "Marilyn" as an alias is apprently a reference to a fan theory that she was the woman than Grunkle Stan married in vegas so red into that what you will.

so it can just be inferred that she knows enough about what humans eat to make an educated guess as to what demon foods are safe for Luz.

...Eda isn't there in the season 3 premiere. They would have had to figure what human foods witches can eat by trial and error.

So I just have the mental image of Amity being the one to volunteer when sweet potatoes come up as something to try because she's the one most familiar with them and learning the hard way that Luz is the only batata for her.

[Peelee]

Even ignoring the fact that I doubt Spanish is available "at like every school in the US"

If a school does not offer Spanish as a language, that would surprise me. It's probably possible that there are some that don't, but it would very much be the exception, not the rule. And if i had to put money on it, I'd go with "every school offering foreign language in the US has Spanish as one of them, if not the only one". Maybe Hawaii and Alaska would be likely to have Hawaiian and Intuit or Russian, respectively.

To break it down let use Europe for a comparison:
USA: learn spanish in high school for a couple credits, not use any of it because the nation taking up like what, a third of a continent? all speaks english surrounds you and renders it useless, mexico?

Mexico has Spanish as it's national language, and not all (or even most) Mexicans speak English. Spanish is (and has been for several decades now) increasingly useful to know in America, and while we do not have a national official language, every state has state official language, and man have two (or more). Spanish is heavily represented in state official languages. Further, there are a significant number of jobs which either require or heavily prefer bilingualism, predominantly in Spanish.

Spanish is far from useless in the US.

Speaking as someone who actually does speak Spanish, a lot of American high school school Spanish teachers are nowhere near fluent, and a lot of American students pass high school Spanish with high marks without ever developing any commutative competence.

This (along with only two years mandated) is going to be the most common reason for lack of bilingualism in the US. At least, as far as the education system is concerned.

Again, no judgement here. I've been wanting to learn German for some time and even have several tools readily available to me, i just keep putting it off, so I'd be the first to be criticized, and that doesn't even take into consideration issues others may have (eg Lord Raziere's comments above) that are unknown.

[Rynjin]

Even ignoring the fact that I doubt Spanish is available "at like every school in the US" because even if that's true it's entirely possible Raziere didn't go to a school that offered it

It's possible, but not remotely likely. The possibility does increase drastically if Raziere was homeschooled however, which I did fail to consider. But in that case "stupid American education system" still doesn't really apply.

... the reality is, "you have a program to learn a language that is Required" does not mean the program is any good at actually teaching you the language. Underfunding of schools means the ability to teach stuff like this gets reduced, which yes is a fault of the American education system at the very least- though it's hard to blame them when one considers that this is a problem that stems from faults in the American system as a whole.

Sure, but that wasn't really what was originally in question.

I think the big failure of American schools comes in not teaching students basic skills like how to research stuff. Typically my first response as a kid on encountering an unfamiliar word was to look it up in the dictionary, and later on Google. But American schools focus so much on rote memorization that it beats that skill out of a student's head. Something unknown becomes something that will ALWAYS be unknown because it's not "taught".

[Lord Raziere]

It's possible, but not remotely likely. The possibility does increase drastically if Raziere was homeschooled however, which I did fail to consider. But in that case "stupid American education system" still doesn't really apply.

Sure, but that wasn't really what was originally in question.

I think the big failure of American schools comes in not teaching students basic skills like how to research stuff. Typically my first response as a kid on encountering an unfamiliar word was to look it up in the dictionary, and later on Google. But American schools focus so much on rote memorization that it beats that skill out of a student's head. Something unknown becomes something that will ALWAYS be unknown because it's not "taught".

I wasn't homeschooled, but I seriously suggest you drop this Rynjin. I do not trust you with any more information about my life. Empathy is a skill, and I do not have any confidence in your proficiency in it, given how the conversation is going.

[Rater202]

So... How about that topic change?

Brain's still sort of obsessing over Owl House. I think King has gotta be my favorite character. It's not exactly common for the adorable talking animal sidekick to have such a thoroughly fleshed-out backstory and that much character development.

Camila is a close second: The first episode sort of gives the impression that she's maybe not such a good mom but every major appearance afterward makes it clear that first impressions are deceiving and she is honestly one of the best moms.

Spoiler: The Ending

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And honestly, the show had a nice mix of villains who could be talked down and redeemed and villains who were just *******s.

It's honestly satisfying to see someone who made himself a monster, inside and out, figuratively and literally, all by his own choices and active refusal to accept others for who they are, who spat on his last chance for redemption... Just getting stomped to death by some of the people he hurt.

[Bartmanhomer]

I'm relaxing at home and watching CSI: Miami at home right now. Later today, I'm going to continue writing stories.

[TaiLiu]

If a school does not offer Spanish as a language, that would surprise me. It's probably possible that there are some that don't, but it would very much be the exception, not the rule. And if i had to put money on it, I'd go with "every school offering foreign language in the US has Spanish as one of them, if not the only one". Maybe Hawaii and Alaska would be likely to have Hawaiian and Intuit or Russian, respectively.

You would lose money. I have a family member who attends a high school in the continental US. Their school offers one foreign language and it is not Spanish. But I agree it is unusual. Spanish class is like the archetypal foreign language class in the US.

I'm relaxing at home and watching CSI: Miami at home right now. Later today, I'm going to continue writing stories.

Oh, cool! What kind of stories are you writing?

[Rater202]

Random thought: There are stories of ancient cultures performing forms of human sacrifice wherein someone is buried alive in the construction of a building for some reason...

But in modern history, construction accidents leading to fatalities are a known phenomenon including cases where someone will fall into like the foundation of a building or the concrete pillar supporting a bridge and it's just not feasible to retrieve the body so they get left in there.

So... how many of those alleged sacrifices were actually construction accidents?

[LaZodiac]

Random thought: There are stories of ancient cultures performing forms of human sacrifice wherein someone is buried alive in the construction of a building for some reason...

But in modern history, construction accidents leading to fatalities are a known phenomenon including cases where someone will fall into like the foundation of a building or the concrete pillar supporting a bridge and it's just not feasible to retrieve the body so they get left in there.

So... how many of those alleged sacrifices were actually construction accidents?

100%, this is absolutely a case of "we believe that they may have kept knives in the rafters as good luck or as a ritual" turning out to be "they had children and that was the only place out of reach of them".

[Aedilred]

Random thought: There are stories of ancient cultures performing forms of human sacrifice wherein someone is buried alive in the construction of a building for some reason...

But in modern history, construction accidents leading to fatalities are a known phenomenon including cases where someone will fall into like the foundation of a building or the concrete pillar supporting a bridge and it's just not feasible to retrieve the body so they get left in there.

So... how many of those alleged sacrifices were actually construction accidents?

There are usually signifiers looked at beyond where the body was found - at least by competent archaeologists. Perhaps the most important starting-point would be to see what and where the injuries are: are they consistent with a fall or accidental crushing, etc. or do they look like they were deliberately inflicted with a weapon. e.g. breaking of only one neck vertebra suggests a ligature, laceration to a vertebra suggests a cut throat, single deep injury to the skull suggests use of an axe, etc. On the other hand, multiple broken bones a crushed skull together with broken neck, or the like may suggest an accidental death by falling or strike by debris. They'll also look at the position of the body (has it been positioned post-mortem?), the space in which the body was found, goods found with the body, etc.

I believe there's a body found at Avebury which was identified as an accident (big stone fell on him).

There is still an awful lot of guesswork, of course.

[Peelee]

There are usually signifiers looked at beyond where the body was found - at least by competent archaeologists. Perhaps the most important starting-point would be to see what and where the injuries are: are they consistent with a fall or accidental crushing, etc. or do they look like they were deliberately inflicted with a weapon. e.g. breaking of only one neck vertebra suggests a ligature, laceration to a vertebra suggests a cut throat, single deep injury to the skull suggests use of an axe, etc. On the other hand, multiple broken bones a crushed skull together with broken neck, or the like may suggest an accidental death by falling or strike by debris. They'll also look at the position of the body (has it been positioned post-mortem?), the space in which the body was found, goods found with the body, etc.

I believe there's a body found at Avebury which was identified as an accident (big stone fell on him).

There is still an awful lot of guesswork, of course.

Yeah. Or, more simply, they don't give Ph.D's for just blind guessing.

[Aedilred]

Yeah. Or, more simply, they don't give Ph.D's for just blind guessing.

I'unno, they give out Nobel Prizes in economics...

[Peelee]

I'unno, they give out Nobel Prizes in economics...

They also give Nobel for "peace", and past winners have been.... Let's not get it into that, actually

[BisectedBrioche]

In tiefling cosplay news, I'm getting very close to a properly seamless "horn the same colour as the character's skin" look (sorry about my makeup in this, I tested it out right after streaming).

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There are usually signifiers looked at beyond where the body was found - at least by competent archaeologists. Perhaps the most important starting-point would be to see what and where the injuries are: are they consistent with a fall or accidental crushing, etc. or do they look like they were deliberately inflicted with a weapon. e.g. breaking of only one neck vertebra suggests a ligature, laceration to a vertebra suggests a cut throat, single deep injury to the skull suggests use of an axe, etc. On the other hand, multiple broken bones a crushed skull together with broken neck, or the like may suggest an accidental death by falling or strike by debris. They'll also look at the position of the body (has it been positioned post-mortem?), the space in which the body was found, goods found with the body, etc.

I believe there's a body found at Avebury which was identified as an accident (big stone fell on him).

There is still an awful lot of guesswork, of course.

Ooo, I think I read about that guy in a Horrible History book. Is this the incident of "you know what, let's not try and clear away these very cursed seeming stones..."?

[Anonymouswizard]

Wearing my lens for the first time. In a while and seriously, how do you lot all deal with the world being in this much focus all the time. There's clearly something wrong with everybody but me

[BisectedBrioche]

Wearing my lens for the first time. In a while and seriously, how do you lot all deal with the world being in this much focus all the time. There's clearly something wrong with everybody but me

This is why I love contacts. It's like having a HD setting for real life.

Speaking of, I've had my prescription changed recently from -1.5 to -1.0 (apparently my eyesight got better since my last checkup), and it's amazing how much more comfortable wearing them is after a few hours now!

[Batcathat]

I'm quite convinced that if I switched from glasses to contacts I'd just end up blinding myself trying to put them in or take them out. I remember how much trouble a former girlfriend had learning how to do that and she was generally way better with her fingers than I am (this feels like a good setup for a dirty joke, but I'm too classy for that and it's totally not that I didn't think of a good one).

I do love living in an age of vision aids though, I can't imagine trying to live my entire life with the world looking as blurry as it does without my glasses.

[Anonymouswizard]

This is why I love contacts. It's like having a HD setting for real life.

Yes, but it's just unsettling when you're unused to how small real world pixels are.

I'm quite convinced that if I switched from glasses to contacts I'd just end up blinding myself trying to put them in or take them out.

If your optometrist is anything like mine you won't be allowed to take your contacts home until you can put a nonprescription lens in and take it out. Multiple times in one sitting, they're worried about it.

But poking yourself in the eye while putting contacts in is just something that happens sometimes. Remember, clean hands!

I remember how much trouble a former girlfriend had learning how to do that and she was generally way better with her fingers than I am

And that's why all the ladies love her?

I do love living in an age of vision aids though, I can't imagine trying to live my entire life with the world looking as blurry as it does without my glasses.

IME you get used to it if you have to

[Batcathat]

If your optometrist is anything like mine you won't be allowed to take your contacts home until you can put a nonprescription lens in and take it out. Multiple times in one sitting, they're worried about it.

That just means I would poke my eyes out in the presence of a professional. Which is good, I guess.

And that's why all the ladies love her?

We did use to joke about how more women came onto her than onto me when we went out. Of course, there were also more men coming onto her than onto me, so I might just have to accept that, at least at the time and regardless of the dexterity of our respective fingers, she was way hotter than me.

IME you get used to it if you have to

Sure, I could probably get used to almost anything, though this is very low on the list of things I'd pick to get used to. The world is very blurry without my glasses.