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1. The Leather/Flesh-bound giant book 10/10

Classic. Heavy. Not exactly easy to store.

2. The College Notebook 9/10

Contains the darkest magics, probably violates the Geneva convention simply by existing

3. The IPhone 3/10

What the fuck is wrong with you? No really, if you put your spells in here, you have a genuine issue.

4. Stone tablet 7/10

Feels almost... Biblical? Doubles as a close range weapon in time of need.

5. Piece of paper 4/10

Easily disposable, easier to lose.

6. A Sword 8/10

Now THAT'S a spell sword.

7. Pocket Notebook 9/10

Feels similar to the college notebook. Super easy to carry.

8. Your brain 5/10

5. trying to correct you on comedic / poetic prose (uh op I know this is a joke but the sky isn’t the color of a dead tv, it’s actually blue.)

4. The ones who are technically correct but it’s not actually that important and is just trying to be smug

3. Proudly correcting your grammar / spelling while ignoring the actual content of your post

2. the people who will inevitably comment on this saying “you forgot about X”

Catapult derives from the latin catapulta, which is itself derived from the greek words kata-peltes. While a catapulta is a specific type of weapon, the term catapult evolved to mean nearly any kind of large throwing machine.

A mangonel is, like the catapulta, a very specific kind of machine—in this case, a traction trebuchet powered by people pulling on a large throwing arm.

Technically speaking, it would not be wrong to call a mangonel a catapult, as it is a large throwing device. However, what often occurs is that any kind of catapult is referred to by the term mangonel, which is outright incorrect and often leads to misinformation about historical events, and makes studying or finding examples of mangonels more difficult and just generally annoying.

5. trying to correct you on comedic / poetic prose (uh op I know this is a joke but the sky isn’t the color of a dead tv, it’s actually blue.)

4. The ones who are technically correct but it’s not actually that important and is just trying to be smug

3. Proudly correcting your grammar / spelling while ignoring the actual content of your post

2. the people who will inevitably comment on this saying “you forgot about X”

Catapult derives from the latin catapulta, which is itself derived from the greek words kata-peltes. While a catapulta is a specific type of weapon, the term catapult evolved to mean nearly any kind of large throwing machine.

A mangonel is, like the catapulta, a very specific kind of machine—in this case, a traction trebuchet powered by people pulling on a large throwing arm.

Technically speaking, it would not be wrong to call a mangonel a catapult, as it is a large throwing device. However, what often occurs is that any kind of catapult is referred to by the term mangonel, which is outright incorrect and often leads to misinformation about historical events, and makes studying or finding examples of mangonels more difficult and just generally annoying.

I'm at a Gender Determination Party where we're competing to determine a baby's future gender.

“Oh but this language sounds scary-“ have you heard a child speak it while pointing at a butterfly?

“Oh but this language sounds silly-“ have you heard someone’s grandma recite a recipe with such practiced ease it comes off as poetry?

“Oh but this language is really weird-“ and yours isn’t? Everyone’s language is weird, dumbass, it came free with your fucking humanity.

Every tongue that is spoken is a work of art. Every language a unique window into the world.

an omnipotent creator being almost certainly doesn't exist but if it does, it's a supervillain

gods shouldn't exist but we keep creating them to use as weapons. and no one knows how to defuse one

gods don't exist which is a relief bc otherwise we'd be forced to hunt them down for execution

creator god exists and we owe it nothing (DEEPLY unqualified)

god/s abandoned us and it hurt at the time but in hindsight we escaped a highly toxic relationship

The sharpest, best-trained pilots make worse decisions when they're tired or sick or stressed out, so there's two of them. The most dedicated and experienced air traffic controllers garble an instruction over the radio sometimes, so pilots are trained to always repeat clearances back to catch misunderstandings quickly. The best and brightest maintenance mechanic still overlooks a screw or misconnects a wire once or twice in her career, so aircraft systems are built with two or three or four layers of redundancy, and pilots are exhaustively trained to deal with failures safely. 

my sidetrack is: i think that the concept is Also good to keep in mind when it comes to friendships. like, banter and teasing is a normal part of a lot of friendships, and that's fine! but when a friendship becomes almost Exclusively that...i do feel like you run the risk of someone wearing down over time.

you tell your friend "omg i hate u so much" in a light-hearted way, but do you tell them you love them? you'll say "shut your mouth"/"shut up"/"stfu" in jest when they're saying silly things, but do they know, explicitly, how much you enjoy the chats you get to have? you'll say "hey bitch" "sup fag" ect. ect. and mean it affectionately but do you call them by name with that affection? you say "die" as a joke when they make a bad joke but do they know how happy you are to get to share a part of your life with them? how happy you are that they're alive in the world and in it with you?

how many times do you think someone can hear "i hate u", even in jest and not meaning harm, before they start to wonder if anyone even really likes them?

there's a line, i think, where banter and teasing can start beget shallow-level connections when love is never given as an offset, that leaves people feeling unseen and disconnected even if they don't fully realize it--because ultimately, there is nothing really earnest or genuine in only Ever teasing each other.

and shallow-level connections Are fine, but rarely is that all someone wants. i dunno. a lot of these examples listed are things i've seen and heard people say to their friends, mostly younger people (teens, twenties), and some i was definitely guilty of when i was younger. but i've done a lot to change how i interact with others, to make sure any banter is offset with love in equal measure, or even in greater measure, so that i know for sure my friends know they Are loved. and this has genuinely done wonders for my friendships. both in helping me be a better friend to others, but also in helping me find genuine, authentic friendships that make me feel cared about and fulfilled as people give me that kindness in turn. and hell, sometimes even going into a friendship and intentionally and openly expressing things like gratitude, appreciation, and affection encourages people who Aren't used to expressing those things to start trying. which helps Them cultivate connections they feel better about in turn. and that's what helped Me learn to start doing it, honestly--i went from a series of toxic friendships founded on banter and teasing and light insults that built up Into that toxicity, to people who were open about loving me and all my parts. and i went "wait this fucks" and started being more open too.

i'm still a hard-headed fucker at times (no one is perfect) and sometimes i don't always properly Accept that affection, because there's a part of me that still isn't used to it or feels like i'm not fully deserving of it, after a long history of friends and family in equal measure never treating me with kindness. sometimes the ghost of relationships past get into my head and my walls go up. but hey, it's way better to hear that affection while i'm struggling, even if i might fight it, than to hear someone telling me "Ur The Worst Lol" while i actively feel like i Am.

i can sometimes still slip into too much teasing, too, but now it's something i try to look out for and catch and offset. it's a learning process, and you won't change overnight if that's your norm. but you can start to make changes, and i promise your relationships will start to feel way better when you do.

all this to say, be kind to the people you care about. show your friends genuine kindness between the well-meant teasing. tell your friends you love them. and if you struggle with direct language for expressing sentiments of affection, there are a million different ways to let someone know you love them. but you gotta make sure you express it Somehow. you Gotta make sure your friends are getting more than I Hate U Die Bitch even if you really only mean that as a joke.

you can still banter and tease, and you don't need to be sappy and mushy 24/7. but in-between your ribbing and poking, remember to be kind, be loving, and be earnest.