Annoying Questions I'd Like Answered...

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Mon Mar 12, 2018 2:44 pm

Nah, unfortunately scholars are still slapfighting over whether she was the real deal or if people are accidentally conflating multiple gods.

Luckily, that's not really a problem thanks to Grandmother Spider. Several North American peoples have folk tales about a mother goddess/trickster/Prometheus figure that happens to be a spider spirit of some sort, so you have a lot of options.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Mon Mar 12, 2018 6:36 pm

Anasaszi or whatever her name was?

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Mon Mar 12, 2018 7:28 pm

Anansi is a West African spider-themed shapeshifting trickster god. This isn't directly relevant, but fun fact: Iktomi is a Lakota spider-themed shapeshifting trickster god, and despite being invented on either side of a goddamn ocean an indeterminate (but presumably very long) time before ocean-crossing ships were a thing on either continent, Iktomi has more in common with Anansi than the Grandmother Spider/Spider Woman cluster of related deities/spirits in what is now the southwestern US, despite far more geographic proximity to the latter than the former.

In any case, none of these spider deities are a mother to monsters, and except Iktomi (and Anansi) they're all pretty strongly pro-human - and even Iktomi (and Anansi) is generally pro-human, it's just that his strong pro-lulz stance eclipses his pro-humanity sometimes. Plus, Iktomi is male (so was Anansi originally, but one of his nicknames in the Caribbean and US are 'Aunt Nancy' or 'Sis' Nancy,' so they could reasonably be portrayed as having always been female, being trans, or being some kind of Third Way gender).

Anasazi are an unrelated pre-Columbian civilization of native Americans, who fell for unknown reasons that probably had nothing to do with spiders. "Anasazi" is actually a Navajo word meaning "ancient enemy," and the more accepted term is "ancestral Puebloans" in the interests of not labeling the ancestors to an extant culture/ethnicity using the name given them by their enemies.

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Mon Mar 12, 2018 11:05 pm

Chamomile wrote:In any case, none of these spider deities are a mother to monsters, and except Iktomi (and Anansi) they're all pretty strongly pro-human - and even Iktomi (and Anansi) is generally pro-human, it's just that his strong pro-lulz stance eclipses his pro-humanity sometimes. Plus, Iktomi is male (so was Anansi originally, but one of his nicknames in the Caribbean and US are 'Aunt Nancy' or 'Sis' Nancy,' so they could reasonably be portrayed as having always been female, being trans, or being some kind of Third Way gender)

Due to the Beast thread I suspect Prak intends for them to be the good guys, so luckily most of that stuff sounds like a feature rather than a bug.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Thu Mar 15, 2018 9:17 pm

i have found something completely useless to rant about.
WHY THE FUCK ARE PICTURES TAKEN WITH THE SELFIE CAM ON SMARTPHONES MIRRORED???

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Thu Mar 15, 2018 9:42 pm

Whipstitch wrote:
Chamomile wrote:In any case, none of these spider deities are a mother to monsters, and except Iktomi (and Anansi) they're all pretty strongly pro-human - and even Iktomi (and Anansi) is generally pro-human, it's just that his strong pro-lulz stance eclipses his pro-humanity sometimes. Plus, Iktomi is male (so was Anansi originally, but one of his nicknames in the Caribbean and US are 'Aunt Nancy' or 'Sis' Nancy,' so they could reasonably be portrayed as having always been female, being trans, or being some kind of Third Way gender)
Due to the Beast thread I suspect Prak intends for them to be the good guys, so luckily most of that stuff sounds like a feature rather than a bug.

Yeah, good guy monster progenitors are a bonus. The idea of the game is that you're radical leftists who turn into godzilla and smash the state/capitalist oppressors.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Thu Mar 15, 2018 9:54 pm

Good Guy Monster Progenitor . .
Well, you may be shit out of luck there o.O

Monster Progenitors are usually the Gods of the myths of the specific Area.
And if you are a good guy, chances are you get good children, not monsters.

Monsters being born to somebody are usually a curse / punishment for obvious reasons.

At the very least, the gods are usually at least ambigous or neutral.
See Zeus and whoever else fornicated their way through the planes of existence.

angelfromanotherpin · Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:18 pm

Stahlseele wrote:Good Guy Monster Progenitor . .
Well, you may be shit out of luck there o.O

Kali might fit the bill. I mean, as an everything-progenitor she definitely made monsters, but she's also a slayer of demons and a generally positive figure.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:02 pm

Stahlseele wrote:Good Guy Monster Progenitor . .
Well, you may be shit out of luck there o.O

Monster Progenitors are usually the Gods of the myths of the specific Area.
And if you are a good guy, chances are you get good children, not monsters.

Monsters being born to somebody are usually a curse / punishment for obvious reasons.

At the very least, the gods are usually at least ambigous or neutral.
See Zeus and whoever else fornicated their way through the planes of existence.

What I mean is that I'm ok with, say, Iktomi or Anansi being part of the game's mythology because of their pro-humanity stance.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 7:04 am

Ah, okay.

Neeeek · Post by **Neeeek** » Mon Mar 26, 2018 10:19 am

Maj started this thread. She's an friend of mine. Is she still around?

Edit: Just realized Gio is now about 10. Hope he slowed down a bit.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Mon Mar 26, 2018 2:08 pm

I'm still around. I visit these boards every day.

And no, Gi never slowed down.

Long time, no see, though.

Hicks · Post by **Hicks** » Tue Mar 27, 2018 6:13 pm

Stahlseele wrote:i have found something completely useless to rant about.
WHY THE FUCK ARE PICTURES TAKEN WITH THE SELFIE CAM ON SMARTPHONES MIRRORED???

I kno, rite? Weird how I gotta go back and flip them horizontally to look right.

Hicks · Post by **Hicks** » Tue Mar 27, 2018 6:13 pm

Stahlseele wrote:i have found something completely useless to rant about.
WHY THE FUCK ARE PICTURES TAKEN WITH THE SELFIE CAM ON SMARTPHONES MIRRORED???

I kno, rite? Weird how I gotta go back and flip them horizontally to look right.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun Apr 08, 2018 10:59 am

Ok, so, weird question about nutrition.

I know that plant proteins are (generally) incomplete. But I also know that if you combine types of plant proteins, like any two of beans, nuts, grain, you get a complete protein.

So, assuming you're eating a combination of plant proteins that creates a complete protein, like oatmeal made with soy milk and peanut butter in it, protein is protein, right?

It's always seemed like meat is a better source of protein for my body to run on, but that makes no sense to me. Is there actually a functional difference in meat and plant protein sources beyond just completeness?

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Sun Apr 08, 2018 2:47 pm

Proteins are made out of 20 different amino acids. Different proteins use different sequences and ratios of amino acids. Different organisms are able to synthesize some or all of the amino acids. Humans in particular have no metabolic pathway that creates nine of the 20 amino acids. In addition, the metabolic pathways that create the other 11 require specific substrates - so Proline, Glutamine, Arginine, and Glutamic Acid can be changed into each other or synthesized from Oxoglutaric Acid, which means that you can survive and make all the proteins you need with literally zero Proline intake, but you still need to have some kind of nutritional Glutamate or you'll be deficient in all of the above.

Stuff like Corn is deficient in various amino acids. Specifically Corn is deficient in Lysine, Tryptophan, and Methionine. Also, most of the protein content in Corn is Zein, which is edible but water insoluble and therefore slow to digest. These are the kinds of problems one runs into with any kind of plant-based diet. Animal proteins by and large do not have these particular issues. Although they obviously have other issues (metabolizing lots of protein for energy puts you in nitrogen excess and drives urea levels up, for example).

-Username17

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Sun Apr 08, 2018 8:06 pm

There is also the obvious: when you try to get complete proteins from plants, you end up eating way more carbs.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun Apr 08, 2018 9:28 pm

So it's totally plausible that my body just has an easier time with meat proteins than plant, even when I'm combining different plant proteins?

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Sun Apr 08, 2018 10:31 pm

Yeah. That's like Listen to Your Body 101. What's good for someone else's body isn't necessarily what works for yours; if you have an easier time eating meat, eat meat.

phlapjackage · Post by **phlapjackage** » Mon Apr 09, 2018 4:13 am

Plant proteins are complete, this was a myth from long ago about plant proteins needing to be combined.

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-pr ... ning-myth/

There is no real need to worry about protein, this is such a basic thing that noone in the history of the world has ever had to worry about. Just eat a balanced (plant-based) diet.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Mon Apr 09, 2018 4:21 am

Ok. I'm not trying to avoid meat. People keep thinking that's why I'm trying to figure this out.

I'm trying to avoid blowing money on fast food because I'm useless in a kitchen when I've just gotten up, and it's four hours past that and I'm out, and I'm hungry.

I bought a rice cooker because you can make oatmeal in them. I put together what would, for a normal (ie, not 400 lb) person, be a lot of protein in a low effort form (oatmeal cooked with half soy milk, half water, 2 tbs of peanut butter added in). The last three nights, I would put that together before bed, set the rice cooker to turn on at about noon, and then go to bed. When I got up somewhere between noon and 1, the oatmeal was ready, so was my coffee, and I actually had breakfast that wasn't a bowl of sugary cereal* or some microwaved convenience crap.

*technically oatmeal is cereal, and I also put maple syrup and brown sugar and cinnamon apples in it. You know what I mean.

What I'm actually trying to accomplish is giving myself a good breakfast that doesn't require me to put any thought or effort into it when I've gotten up, and little effort when I just want to go to bed. I'm not meat averse, meat dishes just take more prep, or have to be reheated, and reheated meat always kind of sucks.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Mon Apr 09, 2018 4:40 am

Not thinking you want to avoid meat, but I didn't realize the problem was convenience.

What about something like chicken salad? We frequently use a rotisserie chicken and prep them the night before - and all you have to do is open up the container in the morning and add a fork.

phlapjackage · Post by **phlapjackage** » Mon Apr 09, 2018 4:59 am

Prak wrote:I bought a rice cooker because you can make oatmeal in them. I put together what would, for a normal (ie, not 400 lb) person, be a lot of protein in a low effort form (oatmeal cooked with half soy milk, half water, 2 tbs of peanut butter added in). The last three nights, I would put that together before bed, set the rice cooker to turn on at about noon, and then go to bed. When I got up somewhere between noon and 1, the oatmeal was ready, so was my coffee, and I actually had breakfast that wasn't a bowl of sugary cereal* or some microwaved convenience crap.

*technically oatmeal is cereal, and I also put maple syrup and brown sugar and cinnamon apples in it. You know what I mean.

What I'm actually trying to accomplish is giving myself a good breakfast that doesn't require me to put any thought or effort into it when I've gotten up, and little effort when I just want to go to bed. I'm not meat averse, meat dishes just take more prep, or have to be reheated, and reheated meat always kind of sucks.

Sounds good, maybe sub in some kinds of fruit (banana, strawberry, blueberry, raisins...) instead of maple syrup and brown sugar. Better to cut out sugar but you can do it gradually. Mix it up, throw in different nuts/seeds, cocoa powder/chocolate chips, cinnamon/nutmeg, shredded coconut, even jelly/jam (although those tend to have a lot of sugar too, but maybe that's a good "transition" food)

Also you can do "overnight oats" as a cold dish, no need for the rice cooker. Put your oats + liquid + stuff together in a dish in the fridge at night, and it's ready in the morning. Microwave if you want it hot.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Mon Apr 09, 2018 5:24 am

phlapjackage wrote:Plant proteins are complete, this was a myth from long ago about plant proteins needing to be combined.

Um... I'm not going to watch your stupid video, but it's simply factually true that a diet from plant matter from just grains or just legumes will not get you a sufficient spread of essential amino acids to continue living. Almost all grains are deficient in Lysine, while legumes are not. Legumes tend to be low in Methionine and grains are not. You don't need to combine them in the same meal, but you do need to combine them or you're going to have malnutrition.

-Username17

phlapjackage · Post by **phlapjackage** » Mon Apr 09, 2018 6:39 am

FrankTrollman wrote:Um... I'm not going to watch your stupid video, but it's simply factually true that a diet from plant matter from just grains or just legumes will not get you a sufficient spread of essential amino acids to continue living. Almost all grains are deficient in Lysine, while legumes are not. Legumes tend to be low in Methionine and grains are not. You don't need to combine them in the same meal, but you do need to combine them or you're going to have malnutrition.

I'm not sure where the venom comes from, this is a video by a real MD doctor citing several real studies. But I guess you didn't watch it so...way to go?

"a diet from plant matter from just grains or just legumes" yeah...noone says to eat a plant-based diet of "just grains" or "just legumes". That's not a healthy diet. Diet implies more than one meal, btw.

What you just said boils down to: Eat a balanced diet. Yes, you have to eat a variety of things. Yes, no one food has every single thing your body needs. But a balanced, varied, plant-based diet does give you everything you need (B12 notwithstanding)