FavouriteShapes

joined 5 days ago
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Going out and meeting people I don't know seems to leave me quite rattled (sh.itjust.works)
 

had a job interview. 2 large group exercises to assess team dynamics, then I interviewed for 2 different roles. Everyone there was nice, but:

  1. can't stop feeling bad for the one interview that i definitely floundered. The first one seemed to go well but given how much i tripped over my words for the second one, it makes me think the first one went badly? Also got the sense

  2. I can't trust people being nice to me. It makes it feel like a big prank is being played on me and my entire reality is simulated / organised for some reason.

its kind of tough to be in one hall surrounded by other candidates competing for the same positions as you. Man.... But maybe that's better and I just have no stamina for job interviews.

I need to apply for ~500 more jobs this summer, just in case, but it leaves me really drained.

The genocides on Ukrainians and Uyghurs is the same as the great replacement theory! in c/meanwhileongrad@sh.itjust.works
The genocides on Ukrainians and Uyghurs is the same as the great replacement theory! in c/meanwhileongrad@sh.itjust.works
New Popemobile just dropped in c/spaceflightmemes@sh.itjust.works
[–] FavouriteShapes@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Was doing a crossword yesterday and apparently the pope hat is called a tiara. Fun fact.

Megachuse Destiny in c/cartographyanarchy@sh.itjust.works
[–] FavouriteShapes@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago

Interesting way of depicting alaska

Reinvented from first principles in c/whitepeopletwitter@sh.itjust.works
[–] FavouriteShapes@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Maybe "Marshalls" working for courts would set out on horses to round up runaways and bring them before the court.

Reinvented from first principles in c/whitepeopletwitter@sh.itjust.works
[–] FavouriteShapes@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I reckon the high prevalance of the Smith surname isn't really down to a highly smith-based economy, but because it was a quite respectable profession for both social classes - high paid, possibly self employed, talented/educated - but also useful strong and dependable. So if you have to choose between different surnames you might therefore go:

  • "ah my parent was a smith so i can be a smith too"
  • "my parent chose to use their smith parent's surname so i will choose it too because it gets respect"

Or, maybe smiths always needed a lot of helpers and instead of taking the surname "Prentice/Prentiss" they would just go with Smith, as it's neater.

Maybe those with some experience working a forge or shaping metal had more liberty to move to different towns for work; In a new town, locals who'd lived there their whole life wouldn't need an identifying surname (assuming this is pre-surname consolidation in Britain) but the Smiths would have that as a tradename, thus advertising their services.

Presumably also, every town needed at least one local tinkerer or metalworker - there are/were like 10,000s of distinct villages all over England. So if we presume that tradespeople always have surnames of their trade and non-tradespeople (like farm labourers) don't usually feel a need to, The Smiths already have a greater share of the surnamed population in the census.

Lastly, I'm guessing the smiths had a somewhat better quality of life in relation to disease and poverty. Possibly the hot forges kill off harmful bacteria and they had "middle class" income and no vulnerability to random agriculture failure, like farmers did.

One reason why I don't think it's because "the king ordered loads and loads of people to become smiths during one particular war and we were left with an overabundance of Smiths" is because The high prevelance of the "Smith" surname is also observed in Germany, Spain, Poland and elsewhere. As Schmidt, Herrero and Kowalski, respectively. The more you know!

When writing a fantasy novel does it make more sense to appeal to a teenager audience or an adult one? in c/writing@sh.itjust.works
[–] FavouriteShapes@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I do value your advice, i can't stand novels which are a traumafest, so i definitely won't be imparting something like that on to the world.

Nonetheless, if i want to simulate human interaction as accurately as possible there's gonna be some nasty stuff from time to time, with the story i have in mind

When writing a fantasy novel does it make more sense to appeal to a teenager audience or an adult one? in c/writing@sh.itjust.works
[–] FavouriteShapes@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago

Hah, thank you for the motivation. Yes i think GoT is apt for how mature i would like it

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When writing a fantasy novel does it make more sense to appeal to a teenager audience or an adult one? (sh.itjust.works)
 

I'm thinking of something classic with feudal medieval vibes. Are there a lot of adult fantasy readers? Or is it better to dance around more traumatic NSFW events in the book to make it more suitable for teens?

Is there anything it can't do? in c/whitepeopletwitter@sh.itjust.works
[–] FavouriteShapes@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Sounds like it would be nasty to eat. Is it nice?