Ask the Beasts, and They Will Tell You

Girdle books were small, portable books popular in the Middle Ages, designed to be carried by being suspended from a belt or girdle.

via Seattle Times:

Local Ballard raccoon has been spotted thriving in a remarkably unique and charming body

insult in the history

of television.

blink and you miss them running by

[art by me - neonscrapyard]

The clearest image of Venus ever taken !

Types of Washer:

Front-load: Better cleaning efficiency, gentler on fabrics, uses less water and energy. Downsides: door seals can mildew, must bend to load/unload, generally pricier.

Top-load (impeller): Faster cycles, easier loading, cheaper upfront. Uses more water, may be harsher on clothes.

Top-load (agitator): Good at removing stains, but tougher on fabrics and water-intensive. Mostly phased out in newer models.

Recommendation: If you can find a top-load with agitator within your price range that will fit where you plant to place it: go for it. Front-load looks better, but unless you're running it all of the time it will mildew and the cost is usually not worth that.

Capacity: Look past the cubic ft (or kilograms if you're not in the US), consider how often you do the laundry, how many people will be doing the laundry, and what you expect to be washing.

Recommendation: Aim for 4.0-4.5cu/ft (14-15.75kg), that's a nice happy medium that can do both light and heavy loads without much issue.

Options & Features:

Steam cleaning (sanitizes, reduces allergens)

Quick wash (for lightly soiled items)

Delicates/gentle cycles

Sanitize/high-temp options (good for baby clothes or gym gear)

Automatic soil sensors adjust water/time

Recommendation: Avoid gimmicks you won't touch—extra screens or specialty modes add cost without benefit if unused. Your washing machine doesn't need wifi, bluetooth, or voice commands. It's just more stuff to break.

Brands & Reliability:

This section is a little harder, personally I go with Bosch, Speed Queen, or GE Profile; but depending on where you are and your budget you might not be able to afford them. That being said, an ex of mine worked for an appliance warranty company that serviced multiple brands and they always said one thing: We're never getting a Samsung or LG, they have more warranty repairs than any other brand even accounting for their popularity.

loooooove this ask.

I’ve never tried to come up with an exhaustive list before, but it seems like most fantasy religions fall under a few basic categories:

Bland Polytheism. disguises itself as fun world-building but nothing about the invented religion has any effect on the plot or on any of the characters’ deepest beliefs. the whole thing is just the thinnest possible excuse to use “gods” and “damn” as profanities. some stuff I hate here (Game of Thrones) and some stuff I like (Assassin’s Apprentice)

Catholicism with Mormonism Underneath. irrationality, power dynamics, and “tradition” hiding under the smells, bells, and visible hierarchy of Catholicism. (from what I remember, Pratchett’s Monstrous Regiment falls here.)

Catholicism with Aztec Child Sacrifice Underneath. see above, except with worse outrages. (a whole slew of Doctor Who episodes fit here lol)

Catholicism with Materialism Underneath. oh so the gods we pray to were actually just regular people who were especially powerful magic users, and all magic users are actually just scientists? should we throw a party? should we invite Richard Dawkins? (Grishaverse)

Boring-Ass Modern Liberal Polytheistic Patronage. think D&D. a strong vibe of Religion is A Free Association of People Like a Social Club, You Choose Your Gods And All Are Equally Valid. especially boring-ass because faith is typically used as a tool to get the individual power to do what they want to do. (the Vox Machina show falls here; I can’t speak to the podcast)

in all these cases, the writer is using religion as a way to talk about human stories—stuff that’s wholly on the horizontal level, doesn’t touch on transcendence at all. maybe you’re literally just using your made-up religion as punctuation, as in the case of “oh my gods”. maybe your intricately described religious hierarchy is a way to explore the abuse of power (as there can obviously be in real religions!). maybe the whole point of talking about your made-up religion is to say “behind this thing I believed in there is nothing but humans vying for power”. but there’s nothing in these stories that’s specific to religion. and that’s probably not objectively bad, but it is boring and lazy to me!! give me characters who have genuine faith! give me gods who break into the narrative! give me miracles! give me the tension between freedom and Providence, suffering and trust! if this religion was real, what would it mean?? what would it be like to live in that world???

there are only a few books that do something interesting with their fantasy religion. two in particular come to mind as truly outstanding examples:

The Queen’s Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner. from QoA onward, one of the strongest themes is how suffering and freedom fits into the divine plan. how do you have faith in a god who chooses you but also allows you to undergo tragedy? what does it mean to serve a god who has their own plan? what happens to your ordinary life when you discover the gods are very, very real?

The Curse of Chalion, by Lois McMaster Bujold. like TQT, there’s a moment where the wholly horizontal plot is broken into, the vertical dimension is revealed, and everything changes. the gods being real makes a difference.

edit to add: The Witness for the Dead, by Katherine Addison! what does vocation mean? can you answer the Call beyond what you feel worthy of?

Princess of the Midnight Ball gets a shout-out for having Plain Ol’ Literal Catholicism, including an interdict plot point. Spinning Silver gets a shout-out for the “if I’m going to marry an ice fey king he darn well better respect my Jewish traditions” bit. City of Brass is fantasy Islam instead of fantasy paganism or Catholicism, but I can’t speak to anything in that book other than Dara, whom I hated and despised.

Study for those interested

Not yet!!