darael

[darael]

Apparently there was some kind of race scheduled at a local park or something so I've been trying to avoid the main trail but a little while ago when I had to cross near it I overheard the following shouted exchange

Higher feminine voice: woo, look at you go! You're jogging! Keep it up!

Lower masculine voice (panting): you know it! Last place is still a place, baby!

And goddamn if that didn't rewire my brain a little bit.

Last place is still a place, baby.

[darael]

So there you are, number one employee at your company, team lead, bringing in more profit by yourself than the rest of the employees combined and everyone knows it. And then one day, against the advice of all the other team leads, the CEO violates a safety measure, and yeah, people start dying.

Everyone knows it's the CEO's fault. Everyone knows how to fix it. But the CEO does nothing, digs his head in the sand, and pretends like shit is normal. And people are dying.

So you, young hotshot that you are, call an all hands meeting and get a specialist to explain what the problem is. It's easily solved, but it will cost money, and that money is going to have to come from the CEO.

The CEO throws a shitfit. He doesn't want to solve the problem. He doesn't want to admit under overwhelming evidence that it's his fault. But he agrees to do so under one condition--he's not paying to fix it--you are. He's taking your bonus and you can get fucked. As it turns out, the CEO, whose entire pile of wealth has come directly from your hard work, thinks you fucking suck.

Not a single one of your colleagues protests on your behalf, probably because they know that if they speak up, he'll just take their bonuses, too.

So what do you do? Do you continue working for Mr. "idc if my employees die as long as I get mine?" Do you quit? Do you take the wealth you've accumulated working for this guy and go home? Do you stab the worst boss you've ever had in front of every other employee at the company?

Anyway that's book 1 of the Iliad

[darael]

saw someone criticizing the transfem werewolf metaphor and comparing it to how zootopia (badly) sets up predator vs prey as a race analogy and i feel like i should clarify

the transfem werewolf metaphor works because people assume werewolves will be predators to humans, when in reality, real wolves are just. not really all that dangerous to people

and yeah you could argue that a lot of werewolf mythology involves them being violent but thats part of the metaphor! how many people do you think got their impression of trans women absolutely ruined by someone telling a story of some trans girl and calling her a child predator or a big scary man in the woman’s bathroom? because it’s quite a few!

the metaphor works because, much like werewolves, there’s really no reason to assume that trans women are dangerous to anyone else except what people (who have had their fear weaponized) say about them

[darael]

all my friends should quit their jobs/drop out of school so they can PLAY WITH ME

[darael]

Check out the bonus panel on the site!

SMBC ◆ PATREON ◆ INSTAGRAM ◆ BLUESKY ◆ STORE

Buy this comic as a print!

[darael]

>pro AI

>dose music commissions

If you unironically think "pro-AI" and "anti-AI" make sense as coherent political outlooks I'm afraid the things you don't understand could fill a million libraries

[darael]

[gripping the sink] perfectionism does not help me avoid embarrassment or shame. perfectionism is in itself a form of shame. when i struggle with perfectionism i struggle with shame. when i struggle with perfectionism i struggle with shame. when i struggle with perfectionism i struggle with shame

[darael]

The best compliments and insults are both just describing the person. Just describe whatever you can clearly observe about them. The distinction of whether that's an insult or a compliment is whether you're saying it with a pleasant tone, or if you're saying that like it's a bad thing.

Children, who make their observations in an utterly deadpan voice as neutral remarks, are capable of obliviously roasting people because they haven't noticed this.

[darael]

My friend claimed he could play Flight of the Bumblebee and accompany himself. Then he did this.

[darael]

Ok, loves, so we've all got the message that joking about suicide is bad for your mental health. Now we need to get on "joking that the planet/all of humanity has no future is bad for societal health/encouraging resistance to bad shit."

[darael]

i think one of the most important things you learn about making connections with others is that a significant portion of the time people just do not know theyre doing what theyre doing

[darael]

the existence of "maybe", "perhaps", "perchance", and "mayhaps" suggests there should also be "maychance" and "perbe"

[darael]

One sad side effect of big box stores is that you just don’t get lifelong hyper fixation guy access like you used to.

Like yeah I can go to Menards and buy a door.

But it used to be I could go to the door store, and speak to a man whose sole passion in life was doors and who would talk about the history of door insulation patterns over the last 50 years without stopping to breathe.

That man is gonna find me the BEST door option for me.

Seriously my neighborhood had one of these. They were across the street from the lighting shop owned by the guy who could tell you the exact date, off the top of his head, that your property got electrical wiring based on your address.

Now these guys rarely get to own a shop, make a good living, and sell the very finest doors for decades. They’re relegated to Reddit posts which are informative but ultimately do not replace door guy having a door shop.

I don’t want to talk to some miserable, underpaid 20 year old who was in plumbing last week and in doors this week and doesn’t know a hammer from a hanger.

I want my door guy back.

[darael]

like on the one hand I do think a lot of social media spaces and particularly fandom enclaves are way too quick to assume all critique is inherently negative and that all critique that is negative is a personal attack, but on the flip side of that I think there's also a bad tendency among many people to assume that someone with a negative reading of a text must somehow be more objective and therefore correct in their assessment than a person whose reading is positive

[darael]

The rise of anti-intellectualism has been crazy to witness especially bc people aren’t putting the pieces together. Like more and more I’m seeing average every day people saying things like an education and even literacy are not necessary to earn a living. Meanwhile those in power are absolutely sending their children to the best schools and ensuring that they will receive accredited degrees. The people who hold economic, legal and social power are educated; why would you want to lock yourself out of being able to participate in those spaces? If knowledge was so useless, why do those in power not want you have it while they hoard it for themselves and their children?

[darael]

you've heard of "quiet quitting," now I'd like to introduce you to the next level, The French Work Ethic:

Do exactly what you're paid for and nothing more

Absolutely refuse to be available to contact when you're off the clock

Never prioritize work over your own health, wellbeing, or family because that would be insane, it's just a job.

Have a little glass of wine

Take as long as you feel like for lunch

Deeply understand that work doesn't matter

Make sure your boss your boss knows they're always your second priority ❤️

[darael]