The whole “how the hell does this predatory creature get enough sustenance” thing that plagues fantasy and sci-fi occasionally gets so absurd it loops around into being funny, like the scene in Star Wars when the Millenium Falcon is flying through an asteroid field and gets swallowed by a worm.
I could complain about that, but I could also conclude that the supply of reckless space pilots flying into asteroid fields has been consistent enough for the past few million years for animals to evolve to prey upon them.
Who knows. Maybe there are enough adventuring parties roaming about the Forest of Doom to increase the available biomass at their trophic level in order to sustain tertiary consumers like giant spiderwolves…
“You’re going into the Catacombs? No one survives the Catacombs! Many an adventurer has tried!”
“Uh, how many have tried?”
“Enough to form an entire ecological niche for species specialized to prey upon them!”
“Oh. That, uhh, that is a lot.”
“Right? It’s pretty fascinating actually. I’m writing my thesis on it right now.”
I was showing my class that, contrary to popular belief, divorce rates aren’t at an all-time high but actually peaked in the 80s. When I asked them why they thought divorce rates went up so quickly in the 60s-70s, none of them could guess. One guy thought it might be because of all the “free love,” drugs, etc but I told him it wasn’t all hippies getting divorces. Not a single one of them had any idea just how hard it was for women to leave an abusive marriage before the late 1960s at the earliest.
In the late 90s, having secured a permanent and full-time position as a teacher, I applied for a car loan. During the conversation with the credit union rep I was told that I was a risk because I might get married within the 5 year loan period (with the unspoken implication that if this hypothetical marriage were to occur it would immediately result in my becoming a housewife) and that, not entirely linked to the possibility of nuptials, I might also get pregnant (and again, be rendered incapable of paid work.)
I was dumbstruck.
My parents had to go guarantors for the loan. My freaking parents.
I was in my mid-20s. I had a well-paying, secure job. I was single with zero intent to marry, and even if it had been on the cards it sure as fuck wouldn’t have been to the sort of person who would immediately insist I quit my job and stay at home.
But apparently, the fact that I was a woman overshadowed all of that stuff. That single factor meant I was a risky prospect and had to get my parents to back me.
It was absolute bullshit.
Dude, women in Ireland were forced to resign from their jobs upon getting married up until 1973
Hi scarletblade1 here just letting you know that none of these pictures are mine and if they are I will say so, you and this blog will have pokemon, CLAMP work mainly cardcapter sakura, sailor moon and some other stuff, so yeah, enjoy!
