#advantages of Bootstrap

[inwizardssoftwaretechnology]

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[unidentifiedfuckingthing]

ftr though MY million dollar idea is 2.5d slicing software that makes it really easy to build models out of like, cardboard or plywood or eps foam. people do it all the time but its like way more work manually than a 3d printing slicer. if you could literally load a model into a program and it would make a printout of a pattern that you could just make a thing out of it would fill a ton of gaps in crafting

[twopoppies]

But a genuine question -- if he had early contact with very powerful people in the industry, why didn’t he do anything to help save the others, or at least Louis? And I don’t mean getting them signed as a band for another year, but just helping them get out of their contracts. He left the band as the most benefited.

I feel like some of you guys have no understanding of how the world works.

First of all (and I’ve said this a thousand times), we have no idea what Harry did or didn’t do. Liam and Niall had no problem going to other labels. IMO, Louis was kept under Simon’s thumb as punishment and as a way to control Harry.

Second, what do you actually think Harry should have done? I’m genuinely curious because people are always saying this. “He should have helped Louis.” But what do you mean? He should have told Jeff to reject all contract offers unless his boyfriend also got a better deal? How do we know Louis wanted his help? He’s awfully proud. I can’t see him wanting Harry to fight his battles. Be supportive and caring, yes. But try to pull strings? Is that what you mean? Introduce him to powerful people? And again, I ask: how do you know he didn’t try?

This is just such a circular argument because what you’re really saying is that Louis should have been given all the breaks Harry got. Which, sure. That would be amazing. But he didn’t. And that’s the way the world works.

And Louis knows this. So he pulled himself up by his own bootstraps and made a really good career for himself in spite of all the fuckers who tried to stop him. But comparing his success to Harry’s success and then begrudging Harry and feeling sorry for Louis, is pointless. And I really think that’s the last thing Louis would want.

Last, Harry left the band “most benefited” because Sony set their sights on him somewhere between 2011 and 2012. They had initially picked Liam as their breakout star. And you can see it from the beginning. But Harry had something the public responded to the most, so he became their golden boy. They were always going to sign him when the band eventually ended. And he had the ambition and talent to take the advantages he was being offered early on, and make something out of it all. The Azoffs weaseled their way in because they also noticed it.

None of this means the others weren’t also super talented and ambitious. But the label is only betting on one horse. They’re going to put all their money on the one who has the best chance of winning. And they decided it was Harry.

[all-pacas]

list of chase's political/social opinions:

fat people are gross/lazy

death penalty is bad

murder is wrong, soldiers do not get a pass

if society promotes teenagers as sex objects, it's not wrong to talk about them as such

not a huge fan of illegal immigration because it took him so long to get a green card, but also not a fan of the right-wing politician they're treating who has those views, so ???

if a closeted gay man wants to stay in a miserable marriage, what's the problem

"if you're a burden on others you should kill yourself" which is super ablest, but he also makes it very, very clear he's talking about his abusive mother and how he wishes she had died quickly instead of him being forced to care for her and his sister when he was still a child! like, it's a fucked up thing to say, but in the conversation it's more specific than generalized, you know?

euthanasia is fine

list of foreman's political/social opinions:

poor people are scammers/lazy/take advantage of the system

poor people are drug addicts

he makes several republican-leaning jokes circa 2004 - he makes a john kerry joke at cameron in one episode and a france joke in another; these were both common right-ish wing jokes of the time

what i am saying is he is such a classic small r republican. pull yourself up by your bootstraps etc etc.

death penalty is fine

racism is bad

euthanasia is wrong

being gay is fine, not using protection and getting HIV is kind of your own fault tho

list of cameron's political/social opinions:

she personally "could never" get an abortion, but we don't know if she is pro-life in general or it's just a personal thing of hers.

"no one" wants an autistic/disabled child. there's also several examples of her trying to white knight house, drugging or lying to (fat, disabled) patients "for their own good", she's lowkey a bit ableist!

death penalty is wrong.

euthanasia is wrong (although she might come around).

killing evil people is okay; killing for the "greater good" is fine (i don't actually think this is hypocritical related to the above bullet points! she differentiates between societal good and personal evil.)

cheating -- whether an affair or to get ahead -- is always wrong

[rad-hound]

Do you have any headcanons on House Sr?

Certainly! In truth, I haven't given House Sr. much thought until creating this post, combined with receiving this ask in my inbox. But, after a moment of consideration — or several — I've finally conjured up enough ideas to better equip myself to answer your question.

Here are a few of my headcanons for House Sr.:

House Sr. resembles American musician John Paul Larkin, also known as "Scatman John":

I feel this is self-explanatory in its own rite. Given that House Sr.'s son, Mr. House, resembles the late Howard Hughes in both design and with regard to Hughes's quirks, having his father also resemble a late celebrity figure feels suitable. That and, despite also believing that Robert House is near-identical to his father in appearance and demeanor, it would leave much to be desired if I were to say that both Mr. House and his father resemble Howard Hughes.

Unlike Mr. House, House Sr. was a nepotism baby:

Given the very little information we know about House Sr., other than the fact that he and Robert's mother perished in an autogyro accident, I wholesale believe that for generations before his death, the House family reveled in infinitely-regenerating wealth. As such, he wasn't tasked to "pull himself up by his bootstraps," nor did he experience difficulty in seeking employment or housing. (Heh.) In fact, I firmly believe he was one of few House descendants to rely solely on an inherited allowance to survive, rather than becoming a monster of industry, and wholly intended to raise his offspring as he himself was raised.

One could easily argue that Mr. House was intended to be a nepotism baby, given that House Sr. left him money to inherit in his will, in the event of his death. However, Mr. House was orphaned at a young age and the allowance his father intended for him never saw the light of day, due to his half-brother's legal interference. So no, Mr. House isn't a nepotism baby. If anything, his half-brother, Anthony, is a nepotism baby.

House Sr. disliked Las Vegas, however bought land nearby it with the intention of taking advantage of the financial traffic the casinos attracted:

I enjoy entertaining the thought that at some point, House Sr. intended to buy — or already bought — scrupulous amounts of land near Las Vegas with the intention of having vacation houses built, seeing as I also believe he was equally as much of a sleazeball as his son would become. But, at some point, halted the project altogether, with the hope of reserving some of the money he'd intended for it to be reallocated to his future children, instead.

Seeing as Anthony House was only ever interested in the money House Sr. left to his descendants in his will, I like to imagine House Sr. leased all the empty properties he'd bought to Robert House, who later utilized said properties to expand his enterprise; one such expansion being House Resort, located just outside of then-Las Vegas.

Given House Sr.'s implied sleaziness, Mr. House has many half-siblings he'll never know once existed:

This concept is more grim than the prior headcanons, in my opinion. With the existence of Anthony House as Robert's half-brother, it can only be parsed that their father slept around quite a bit, and was faithful to no singular woman. As a result, I think that House Sr. has more offspring than the game states — or more than House Sr., Robert House or Anthony House know exist, if we are to remove the game's established canon from the perspectives of these characters as they exist in the Fallout universe.

How is that grim, you ask? Well, given the fact that Robert and his half-brother, Anthony, were on less-than-friendly terms with one another, perhaps he'd have forged better relationships with his other siblings, were they to exist. But, in the wake of the Great War of 2077, this possibility would never be realized. I feel it adds an extra layer of solitude to Mr. House's already-desolate existence.

When I think of more, I'll be sure to reblog this post with additions. But for now, this is all I've been able to come up with. Feel free to reblog this post with your own additions, if you'd like, as I'm curious as to what other people think of House Sr.

Thank you, @harryarmis34, for the ask! c:

[phantomwyvern]

Pokes u gently... How developed is the AU you've talked abt where you drag Firth thru a redemption arc? Do u wanna talk abt it. I wanna discuss that little loser. I want him to be in immense pain /silly

YOU GET IT!!! TO THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT BLENDER WITH THAT LITTLE BLUE BASTARD!!

Kay, this does have an outline and dialogue for it so far in my docs and it’s gotten me to pick up comic art again. Under a cut because this got long af. And as always feel free to ask about anything else or even add your thoughts or what you think would be fun for this AU, I’d love to hear them. Also if you see anything in here that strikes you and want to do something with please take it and run with it. Whatever you come up with is bound end up different than mine on some level and I’d love to see what you do with it, universal blessing for plot beat borrowing.

The basic premise is Firth manages to dig himself from under the boot bar, into a New Carcinia that has been launched into a Great Depression because Firth has managed to make the vast majority of trash completely worthless within a matter of hours. You can find pretty much any type of trash you want by just digging around for it in the city now, the value for just about anything that isn’t a building material to them has tanked HARD. And on top of that people going nuts from getting Gunked has went from basically unheard of in the reef to a near daily thing. Crab Raccoon City my guy, Crab Ragoon City if you will.

Pretty much all the trash Firth had saved up as a just in case scenario is completely worthless now, and seeing as he seemed to be a trash reseller of some sort before all this, he no longer really has that as prospect seeing as that’s likely not in very high demand. He’s walking around with injuries both from his fight with Kril and being crushed by a building. His apartment building has been completely destroyed because of the trash island he decided needed to be dumped on top of the city. He has screwed himself and literally everyone else over so fucking bad with his idea and his only saving grace is that he, Kril and (unbeknownst to him) Nemma and Chitan, are the only ones who know he did it so he doesn’t have a whole angry mob after him for this.

Firth is now in the same place of everyone he’s ever thought he was above, and he has no clue what the hell to do about that. But he’s still in denial about any of this being a terrible idea, he thinks this was still a great idea on some level! If only everyone did what he thought they should have done things would have been perfect. He refuses to take responsibility for any of this, and blames everyone else for not acting how he wanted them to for his ideas to work. (It’s not Firth if he isn’t still kind of the worst, and he still has capitalist brain rot really bad. Don’t worry though, this is a redemption AU.)

He eventually runs into an old business partner named Strait. Strait is OC I made specifically for this and he’s very much meant to be a reflection of Firth if Firth was more self aware of just how selfish he was and knew how awful everything was for anyone who wasn’t actively in charge of stuff on some level and just…didn’t care and actively leaned into it.

And Strait, seeing how dire Firth’s situation is decides to take advantage of this. He offers Firth a job that he knows he doesn’t really have any choice but to take, and knows he won’t be able to leave as well with how injured he is and seeing as Firth never really mentions any family or close friends, and to be honest is probably someone who has a hard time asking for help and likely had a pull yourself up by you bootstraps mentality won’t have any help to get out of it. He knows Firth is desperate and a desperate worker is a hard worker and Firth already sees him as a friend so he can also spin this as Firth doing a favor for his friend. Strait sees the power vacuum that Roland left after he disappeared and is gunning to take it over and he’s going to need a lot of people to help him take that place, which in his eyes means to screw a lot of people over, and his old “friend” Firth unfortunately just so happens to be in a very convenient place for him to do so.

Firth begins working for Strait, very much under the impression his friend is actively trying to help him, completely unaware that he’s in no better of a position than everyone who ever worked for Roland was. Every time he sees someone get injured or gunked and he himself gets injured he goes to complain to Strait. Strait who always says he’s going to fix it, but that never happens. Firth waits and waits, watches as more and more people get Gunked and injured, including him when Strait starts sending him to kill the gunked crabs. Crabs that he had gotten to know usually and was sometimes friends with.

Firth’s mental health spirals further and further down until he’s eventually forced to acknowledge that this is just what happens to the people who aren’t on top, this is how you run a financially successful business that doesn’t stop growing. You oil its machinery with blood and cruelty and you can never stop. He doesn’t want do that to other people, doesn’t want others to die and get injured just so he can make money. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone, but that had been pretty much all he’d done before he’d wound up here. From trying to kill Kril to dumping trash on New Carcinia and getting just about everyone in the city sick. His world view is finally beginning to completely destabilize.

Enter Kril and Chitan, who post canon have become an adventuring bestie duo and are surviving and thriving despite the horrors. Protecting people from the gunked crabs. Kicking the asses of people who are screwing everyone over like Magista and Roland, which is how they hear about Strait.

The decide “Yeah, this guy probably needs his ass kicked, let’s make him regret every single decision that lead him here!” And off they go to storm Strait’s company!

Which is how they finally run into Firth again!

Strait sent Firth to go confront Kril, having already been using him as a sort of living shield up to this point. And Firth is rightfully fucking terrified when he realizes who Strait sent him to try and scare off considering the fact Kril kicked his ass even when had god powers and Kril seems to have gotten only stronger since then. The second Kril lays eyes on him and realizes that Firth survived, he knows he’s screwed beyond belief.

And Kril is pissed to see Firth. That’s not just Firth’s new found fear of him talking. He sees Firth looking to start another fight and jumps in without thinking twice about it.

And Firth is still fucking terrified but he also realizes he’s angry at Kril too. Kril who ruined his whole plan, Kril who broke the Whorl so neither of them could even fix what happened, Kril who who didn’t even have the shucking guts to finish the job and kill him and now he had now choice but to work for Strait with no way out that he could possible see.

What had begun as physical fight that Firth was terrified off descends into a yelling match with Firth blaming Kril for all this because he still refuses to take responsibility for his actions and there consequences and Kril calling him out on every single thing he knows Firth has done. From all the shit he pulled and said on the treasure hunt. To how he stole a magic glowing shell he knew nothing about and dumped trash on everything he’s even known and now the fact he’s blaming Kril for his own stupid and selfish actions. Tells Firth how he’s glad he failed to kill him because it’s only fair that he gets to live through the consequences of said actions along with everyone else.

And this is what finally completely shatters Firths world view. He knows Kril is right, has been thinking how Kril was right about him being selfish since not long after he got to Straits. How he very well could have been the one hurting other people like Strait’s been hurting him and all the other workers here in slightly different circumstances.

Firth finally just crumbles. Like full on sobbing crumbles as all the guilt, stress, grief, fear and anger and accepts the fact Kril is probably finally going to kill him here, thinks he deserves it even, he knew Kril would make it quick. That Kril was still merciful.

And that’s when Kril finally stops looking through his lenses of anger and finally takes a good look at Firth. Realizes just how beaten down and broken he looks. He’s injured, looks like he’s barely been getting anything to eat and Kril swears he sees the early signs of a gunk infection on him.

As much as he’s still upset with Firth he just feels like sort of a bully now. Firth is in no better of a position than all the other crabs here. Kril is stronger and in better shape than him by a long shot and Kril still decided to beat him up. Whether or not he still thought Firth was a complete jerk he didn’t think he deserved this.

So Kril tells Firth to wait right there and that he would be right back.

He goes off to find Chitan who had went ahead to go see if she could get a hold of Strait only to be told that Strait had escaped.

He tells Chitan he wants to help Firth. Chitan is far from enthusiastic seeing as Firth almost let her die because he stole the Whorl and then poisoned the entire city. She kind of wants to just kill Firth and be done with it but she sees Kril is trying to help someone and is willing to help him with that with the caveat that if Firth fucks up too bad and becomes a threat they do away with him.

They begin deciding where they want to take Firth because they don’t know of any family he has and they saw how his last friend went.

And then Kril lands on Moonsnail! Kril knows Moonsnail won’t hurt Firth, y’know probably.

They bring Firth to Moonsnail, not realizing they are about to put Firth with someone who is he is going to hate between Moonsnail narrating his own and everyone else’s actions and the fact Firth is now pretty scared of Umami Magic thanks to the Whorl.

Kril very briefly thinks this might be a bad idea before deciding they don’t have any better ones and there’s a Moonsnail shell right there so he can just come check on them every now and then. Chitan thinks the thought of both Firth and Moonsnail tormenting eachother is entertaining so she isn’t about to start thinking about anything other options either.

Cue the one of the stupidest situations Firth has ever been in. Moonsnail narrates whatever Firth does half the time because he finds it amusing. Firth is still scared of magic but his irritation with Moonsnail far outweighs any fear of him. And he can’t even bring himself to be mad at Kril for this. Kril didn’t have to help him with any of this, especially after all the shit he’s pulled, but he still did and even came by to check on him on a regular basis. Every time he mentally curses Kril for bringing him here he feels bad about it 5 seconds later. Kril still cared about him despite the fact he’d been a complete jerk so he wants to at least try and make him happy rather than do nothing besides complain about his new roommate.

Kril comes by to visit every couple of days, both to talk and check in on them, and honestly he does sort of just find Moonsnail’s and Firth’s interactions funny at this point.

Moonsnail eventually says that he senses some Umami abilities in Firth, gives him the magic awakening zap and tells Firth to try out some combat magic, Firth immediately hates it because it just reminds him of when he had the Whorl. So now he has new abilities he doesn’t even want.

And then one day Kril comes to visit them with a injury that’s a bit to concerning for Firth to just shrug off, because he does care about Kril quite a bit at this point if he’s being honest.

So rather than combat magic Moonsnail tells him to try healing magic instead. And what do you know he has a knack for it.

This is what I have outlined out for the most part. There’s a good chance this is going to get shippy with Kril and Firth and because they make a great enemies to lovers ship and I love something that’s one sided pining before it gets to be two sided and theybalso work really well for that, but they might also just become close friends we’ll see what I’m vibing with more.

Anyways thanks so much for asking about my silly AU, I hope didn’t spring to to much on yall but who am I kidding when I’m on the other side of this situation I’ll usually eat this up.

[exitrowiron]

My DEI Experience

The very public cancelations of DEI programs got me thinking about my experience as the Executive Sponsor of a DEI program at a major global software company a few years ago.

There were several DEI groups (ex. LGBTQ, Pan-Asians, Blacks, etc.) and I was sponsor for the Black group. It was an enlightening experience for me and I'm proud that I helped many members secure interviews for internal positions and several were promoted.

My company's DEI program didn't have any hiring quotas, instead it was more of a networking and training opportunity for DEI members to share their experiences, learn some new skills and get exposure to sr. executives and hopefully secure the executive's support and encouragement.

As the sponsor of the DEI program, I couldn't help but acknowledge the advantages I'd enjoyed throughout my career as a tall white-guy, with similar tall white-guy professionals as family members. When graduating from Indiana University in 1989, I went to work at Price Waterhouse in St. Louis, the same office my Dad worked at when he graduated from college 25 years prior. I met all the hiring criteria (GPA, interviews etc.) and passed the CPA exam, etc. so the decision to hire me wasn't a favor to my Dad, but it certainly didn't hurt that a few of the partners knew my name and if nothing else, I didn't have imposter syndrome. My Dad had done this job and nearly everyone else doing the job looked like me as did almost everyone in sr. mgt.

My second job was with a company that employed my father-in-law. I don't think that influenced the decision to hire me, but it certainly didn't hurt. At this second company I entered the industry where I spent my career, much of it working for a guy who had attended my wedding as a guest of my in-laws. I'm confident that any of my colleagues would agree that I excelled in my various roles, but having those initial personal connections didn't hurt and there were other candidates and colleagues without the benefit of my network by birth and marriage. Through it all, I recognize that I looked like the hiring manager and the last person to have the job I was seeking.

One of the most enriching aspects of my DEI experience was gaining an understanding of how being a minority introduces an entirely new suite of uncertainties. On the rare occasion I received a less than stellar performance review or was passed over for a promotion, I never considered that my race/gender/sexual orientation might be the reason. But the conversations with my DEI colleagues confirmed that this is ALWAYS in the back of their mind, especially working for an overwhelmingly white company. Every colleague could cite examples of overt, incontrovertible racism they'd experienced (not necessarily at the company) which had made them question whether quiet racism was influencing their experience at our company. For example, was their supervisor just generally a jerk, or was the supervisor especially unpleasant to the employee because of her race, gender, etc.? If you've been on the receiving end of maltreatment, it can be difficult to be objective.

My role as the DEI sponsor was pretty straightforward. I did basic things like help critique resumes and provide interview coaching. I encouraged the candidates to overcome their imposter syndrome and apply for aspirational positions. Most importantly, I tried to be the networking resource they lacked. I sent notes and arranged brief phone calls with hiring managers to introduce the candidate. I was very careful not to inadvertently pressure the hiring manager (I know that just receiving an email from me created anxiety). I simply asked that the hiring manager/interviewer give the candidate an interview. I'm proud that my DEI group experienced above-average promotion velocity in the company.

Americans love to celebrate the 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps' story and white males especially want to believe that they are self made men. DEI programs can be challenging for guys like me because it can cause introspection which is humbling. It requires a person to acknowledge that maybe, just maybe you had some help along the way or at a minimum, you didn't face the external and internal obstacles of other candidates who may have been just as smart and capable. It is humbling to admit that at the very least, you benefitted from the fact that you looked like the last person who did the job; that's why I think white males are so intent on dismantling DEI programs.

[velvetvexations]

The thing about comparing Kipperlilly's grudge to hating DEI and affirmative action is that those things are exactly what she's advocating for. The Bad Kids are not receiving accommodation for anything - and in fact Aguefort seems like the type to despise things like accommodations and would tell disabled people to pick themselves up by their bootstraps, but I digress -rather, they have direct connections to massive save-the-world plots three years in a row now that puts them way ahead of everyone else. Though they put in hard work, that doesn't change the fact that no one else working as hard as they can will ever equal being told to go stop a god from coming back and coincidentally your dad (a) worked directly with that dead god's primary agent in the past and (b) is now a super cool angel secret agent who will directly assist you in the task. Oh, and also, your teammate's parents are the dead god's primary mortal agents. And also they kidnapped your other teammate's dad because he's a powerful demon lord so now she's involved too. And you all happen to end up on Leviathan, where Fabian is an instant celebrity who immediately gets a cult worshiping the planks he walks on because they all work for his rich undead infernal dad.

The issue is that people keep mapping it to the real world and seeing "tragic backstory" like it would be IRL, which is a mistake. It's not a disability. They don't go to normal school to become accountants or NASA engineers, they are there to be doing exactly that shit that their backstories rope them into. Like, this isn't Buffy, they aren't saving the world incidentally, this is school for saving the world to pursue a career in saving the world. Spyre functions so differently from IRL that everyone is dramatically failing to comprehend the actual situation everyone is in.

And the thing about hating affirmative action is that it presumes someone only got into whatever not because they have skill, but because of their race or something like that. That's manifestly different from what's going on here. Kipperlilly has no doubt the Bad Kids are incredibly powerful and skilled - but their backstories gave them opportunities to use that power and skill that no one else will ever have regardless of effort or even luck. The Bad Kids can't go five seconds without tripping over the revelation that the BBEG for the year is one of their second cousins. That just doesn't happen to other people, period. The world revolves around the BK's in ways it will never revolve around anyone else so the Bad Kids will always get the massive adventures to save the world and be the top of their class because they're personally connected to the narrative.

Remember, Brennan has confirmed that other AA students do not do shit like that. They do exactly the sort of missions you'd expect them to - go in dungeon, fight monsters, come back. It's not "uh, the Rat Grinders should have just gone out and saved the world too", that's not how it works. AA students are not usually expected to, their rat grinding is just a more tedious and efficient version of what they would be doing otherwise. The BK's don't get involved with these plots simply because they're the most heroic heroes ever who seek wrongs to right, they do it because every single time everyone but Gorgug (who is for the most part absent major narrative stakes) was born someone that would get those in's, feats reproducible by no one else.

"Ah, but the Seven-"

The Seven prove the tragedy of it. Because Kipperlilly is right, but she's also wrong. The brilliance of BLeeM this season is that he's crafted a narrative inseparable from the meta of how the game works. In a very real way this is like the Dungeons & Dragons versions of Tron. The fact that it's a series of fictional TTRPG sessions is essential to the universe and it's story, in a Twin Peaks-ian way.

Because, see, it's not actually, technically magical trauma that gives out those narrative advantages. Magical trauma is just the most obviously visible side-effect. What the issue actually is is that, as everyone has noted over and over again, the Rat Grinders are NPCs, and it is therefore impossible for the world to ever bend itself around them the way it does for the PCs. Except, most are just saying that as a funny haha joke.

No, like, literally, that's the issue. They will always be in the shadow of the handful of people that the people constructing their world, their timeline, their very existence, has decided matter. They are doomed by narrative causality to be "boring". And I'm going to take a moment to say here, isn't it crazy no one is talking about this when we just got done with Neverafter which was all about this exact thing????? Like, literally the BBEG was the Authors. That is the situation here, more or less.

Anyway, there will never be a demon attacking that due to a curse is only vulnerable to hot licks from Ruben's guitar passed down from the first gnomish rocker. Mary Ann will never be the prophesized liberator of kobolds enslaved in dragon dens. Ivy will never find out her father was secretly a super-soldier for the Council of Chosen who before he was assassinated left her notes detailing a sinister plot within the government of Solace.

People keep having a hard time with this because it intuitively doesn't feel right to ever classify something like losing a father in any context to have some kind of bright side. But if you take nothing else away from this post, let it be this: Adventuring as it's done in Spyre is not something done in the real world. Adventuring is something everyone chose to go to AA to learn and put into practice as their long-term career. And in that, absolutely these things give the PCs a completely one hundred percent insurmountable leg-up on the thing they're all in competition for.

And it being completely insurmountable in that way further goes to show the difference between hating that situation and hating affirmative action. Even AA is not a guarantee that a specific member of the majority will lose out on something and a specific member of the minority will get it instead. As soon as the character sheets were rolled everyone else at Aguefort may as well have just gone home and started studying to be accountants because the main characters had been chosen. Or they could keep going and hope they get a spin-off, I guess.

But Kipperlilly does keep trying, for she doesn't really comprehend the true eldritch horror beyond her existence shackled to the bits of a bunch of comedians, and her solution is to adjust for those unfair advantages.

Which is affirmative action.

How is that not obvious.

[silverspleen]

My brother: You could just ask our Aunt for money.

Me: What?

My brother: Oh, don't you know? She's paying for like, half of the cousins' rent right now. Just ask her. She'll pay your rent.

Me: No! I don't need handouts! If I want money I'll just ask Dad.

My brother: Uh-huh, because he raised you to be a Good Republican Woman - *cackling*

Me: Oh no oh no no no oh my god no - it's the bootstraps. I'm - No no! I just don't want to take advantage!

My brother: *laughing at my misery*

Me: It's because I'm financially stable! I don't want to take advantage of people's kindness when I'm ok! Noooooo.

My brother: lol ye I know >:)

-

The fucking Agonies of self reflection and having to be like "oh my god my gently conservative father and usamerican upper white middle class upbringing did manage to completely impress bootstrap mentality onto me, personally. Oh my god. I don't ask for help because of the bootstraps. Fuck!!"

[spocksbrainworms]

SNW has the opportunity to bootstrap paradox the fuck out of this universe and if they don’t take advantage of it all of SNW will have been a waste. All they need is AOS Jim or Spock to come to the SNW Enterprise and it’ll all come full circle.

Truly just abandon SNW Spock, maroon him somewhere and have Chris Pine show up and flirt with him for 30 minutes. That’s all you gotta do.

[rescue-ram]

Okay, if I could hop in the time machine and hold the MASH writer's room at gunpoint and force them to reconceive the core of the show as a comedic trio of Hawkeye/Trapper/Oliver rather than a comedic duo of Hawkeye(and Trapper)...

Collectively, their role in the comedy is essentially the same as in canon, which is straight-men-driven-to-lunacy in playing off the military.

In the book, it's only briefly touched on, but Oliver espouses this kind of Booker T Washington racial uplift ideology and has bootstrapped his way from son of a sharecropper to member of the black elite. He's got a bit of a chip on his shoulder, and while he takes a lot of tasteless jokes on the chin with some clap backs, if he feels genuinely disrespected That Means War. Just like Hawkeye has a giant Rolodex of lunatics he's met over the years, I think playing with the dynamic that Oliver is both richer and better connected than either Trapper or Hawkeye could open up some fun avenues in stories. It could also be interesting for his character to code switch between talking to a black enlisted man and talking with like a famous surgical consultant or someone high up in the media and show his social fluidity.

Within the trio, comparing and contrasting them so they can be played off each other...

I like Oliver and Trapper both being a little older, family men, and a little more conventionally masculine in contrast to Hawkeye. In Oliver's few canon appearances you do get the sense that he and Trapper are hanging out and doing stuff with each other separately from Hawkeye. I think there's also potentially a fun geographic contrast, with them being more urban (Boston and San Francisco) and Hawkeye more of a small town bumpkin. While the scant mentions in canon actually suggest Trapper's background is more upper middle class than anything, I like the fanon that he's Boston Irish working class, and I think that could also be a fun commonality for them to have, both working their way up from impoverished backgrounds, while Hawkeye is not cash rich but a little more stable. Them being a little more grounded and playing the straight man to Hawkeye's wild card could be one end of the dynamic.

Then with Oliver and Hawkeye, you could have both of them being a little more self-interested or cagy, while Trapper is more straightforward or principled. We see a couple points in canon where Hawkeye gets a bit cynical about the system or is willing to game it, and Oliver would have a lot of experience working within a corrupt system and finding ways to turn it to his advantage. And while Hawkeye is never money motivated in the same way Frank and Charles are, his most frequent complaint is the shitty pay and multiple episodes deal with him attempting to extract more money from the army by hook or by crook, and I like to imagine Oliver, as a former football pro and current chief of neurosurgery, is an extremely ambitious guy used to being well-compensated for his talents as well. It only comes up a handful of times, but Trapper is contrasted with Hawkeye in immediately or impulsively doing the right thing, being revolted by corruption, and having a strong sense of right and wrong. Some fun potential for Hawkeye and Oliver to team up in a scheme that Trapper balks at or wants to find a different way to approach.

Then finally you get Trapper and Hawkeye bonding over being merry pranksters and silly geese, while Oliver does not want to play the fool. He'll cover for their shenanigans but is reluctant to take part because he doesn't want to be laughed at- which would also heighten the impact when he does join in. I think Trapper being Delighted by Hawkeye, while Oliver is maybe a little more Tolerant Of, could be fun and lead to good contrasting reactions to his nonsense, and maybe also set up scenarios where Trapper is torn between going along with Hawkeye or Oliver because he likes them both.

[cacodaemonia]

For the WIP game, To Live Like a Ghost? 👀

Heeeey thanks for the ask :D

This is the longfic I've been working on for a while, and one that I got stuck on last year so I had to set it aside until I figured out what had me stuck. But the basic premise is that the war ends shortly after Geonosis, and the clones sort of fall through the cracks for a while as the Republic is dealing with not only millions of new people that its suddenly responsible for but also, you know, the fallout from a secession movement and finding out your leader was a Sith XD;

Of course, young people who have been brainwashed their whole lives to obey orders and accept their lot in life are very easy to take advantage of in certain ways, so some of that systemic mistreatment comes in the form of partial citizenship and a mandatory employment program.

Naturally, the fic is Waxer/Boil, and it follows Waxer as he makes his way to a new job building trails in a wilderness area. He finds out that another clone is working at the site along with a collection of nat-born species, but Boil is a tough nut to crack.

Because of the circumstances in the fic, the Jedi are trying to help the clones—especially the cadets—but also don't have a particular bond with them. And the fic opens several months after the war ended, so both Waxer and Boil are more jaded and cautious than I imagine they would be if they were still living among other clones in the GAR etc. So it's a really slow build that focuses on Waxer's mindset and relationships, but also I think spends a lot of time on the overall mood of the setting as well as the themes of poverty, worker exploitation, and how people can't be expected to 'pull themselves up by their bootstraps' when they don't have any boots.

I have 20 of... maybe 24-25 chapters drafted and partially edited, and the thing is over 60K now, so... 😅

Thanks for the ask! And sorry for the super long answer. There's a lot going on in this fic, and can you tell I don't have a summary written yet? *nervous sweating*

[follows-the-bees]

What's ur issue with edizzy?

Any relationship that ties Izzy with Stede or Ed, I am not a fan of. I live by a ship and let ship philosophy but I will curate my timeline so I don't have to see ships that I personally don't like.

I don't like Izzy with Ed because it is clear to me in canon that Izzy doesn't actually love Ed, and he realizes that at the end when he gets to grow and start to become his own person that isn't clinging onto the persona of BB and the strict masculinity Izzy has been holding onto.

To Ed, Izzy is just another father-like figure that is part of his trauma response. (Captain Hornigold, the fisherman, etc are also part of this.) And at least twice, we see Ed react negatively to any affection offered to him from Izzy. He is not in love with him. And I will even argue that while Izzy loves Ed, he isn't in love with the real Ed. He does wish him well though.

I think a large part of Izzy's season two journey is finding out he isn't in love with Ed. And even if Izzy wasn't killed at the end (I think there were plans to bring him back in s3, there's a lot of foreshadowing in the story, just like there was foreshadowing of his death) Ed and Izzy needed to be apart to grow out of their toxicity.

The Discomfort in a Married State episode seems to be peoples biggest evidence of a sexual edizzy. But I think that's a baseline reading of what that episode is trying to communicate. It is not about sex/romance, it is about the societal expectations that are causing the discomfort. For Stede, it is about living in this married state and the societal expectations in it, while he is incredibly unhappy. So unhappy, he runs away, and is even suicidal, but would rather live a short life as a pirate then continue living in "discomfort." For Ed, it is the societal pressures of being Blackbeard. He is also suicidal and trying to get away from it and we see him tell Izzy this directly in this episode, and Izzy's response is basically, buck up and pull yourself up by your bootstraps. (Now there is a whole thing of Izzy as the middle manager trying to keep his bad boss and the crew in check, which is why he responds like that reading. But also, I will say Izzy constantly lies to the crew, to Ed, to whomever, and I don't think it's always to "try to keep everything working" or however you want to phrase it. A lot of times it's to his own advantage, and the show also shows that he's in the wrong. It may be done in a funny way, but throughout both seasons, Izzy continually makes the wrong choices by the narrative.)

Years ago, Ed and Izzy may have gotten along but not anymore. That's why Ed and Stede work so well, they are confined by society and those societal norms being put up on them by outside forces, but together, they can just be themselves.

I haven't even touched upon the abuse side of things because I know that's a tricky subject, but I don't want Ed or Stede to be with their abusers.

You did not ask about stizzy or Steddyhands, but I'm on a role, so here goes.

I read Stede as demisexual. I think there is also a very clear canon reading and support of that theory. And it is also clear he wants Ed, and only Ed. Doesn't mean he hasn't had dalliances with others in the past, but once he's set his mind on Ed, that's who he wants. Because it's Con playing the character, he has sexual vibes with everyone, and that can be easy to play into if you want to ship Izzy with anyone. It makes sense. Especially cause Con will repost any Izzy art, including any Izzy ships, because he is a great man who wants to support art and support us.

But stizzy just doesn't make sense to me, for reasons stated above.

And for Steddyhands, I have found that most people who support Steddyhands are usually using it as a way to heal Izzy. Or that Ed and Stede are too "whim-prone" and they need Izzy to balance them out. And that is clearly taking away both Ed and Stede's agency, which could be a whole other discussion. Also, Izzy has represented the toxic masculinity of being a pirate, and he gets to grow away from that, but not completely. So teaming that person up with the two men, whose entire journey is to get away from societal norms, and not fitting into society because they aren't playing their masculinity right, to become themselves and live by their own rules, takes away the entire thesis of this show and their relationship.

Now having read all this, you may think that I hate Izzy. And the thing is I don't. I love canon Izzy. I don't particularly like fanon Izzy, and quite frankly his more extreme fans have tested my patience on my love for him, but I find him intriguing. But Ed and Izzy's relationship in canon is absolutely fascinating and I loved seeing Izzy's journey over the two seasons. I just don't think it being tied to Ed and Stede sexually/romantically is it. Not for me. But as I said, ship and let ship.

[tau1tvec]

I am forever surprised at just how unfathomably stupid the American public truly is. Most of the people I know voted for trump because they think he'll make the economy good. But if I asked them what specifically he's going to do to make it good, they won't be able to answer. Republicans continue to win tax cuts for the wealthy, the privatization of social programs, benefiting the wealthy, all on the backs of the average person and yet they can win control over all three branches of government. Absurd

Not to mention all the terrible human rights abuses, but in my experience the average republican doesn't care about them. Until it happens to them anyways

That last bit, sadly it’s something I’ve seen that probably blurs partisan lines atp, but the way our country works, or how a lotta countries work, is that it relies a lot on us ignoring injustice, and inequality for our own convenience and prosperity. We do it everyday with what we consume, and how much we consume it with very little regard as to how it gets put in our hands. We get pissed at Amazon drivers for running behind, knowing full well they’re probably working ridiculous hours, with very little breaks, or off time, and for even less money, but since we don’t see it with our own eyes, and have our own piss poor jobs taking advantage of us while we struggle to pay for food, we kinda just take our frustrations out on each-other anyway. Which is essentially what this election turned out to be.

Empathy is in short supply, to put it simply. Not bc it’s something humans struggle with, we’re still likely to donate money to others in need when we can, or stop and help someone with a flat on the side of the road, we’re just feeling less compelled to do it as often as we probably should.

I know a lotta ppl will say we live in an individualist society now, and perhaps we do, and I’d argue we have for a long, long time, but a lot of the time we’re doing it against our will bc it benefits someone at the top, and it’s getting crowded up there.

Did you know millionaires are literally being priced out of the Alps ??? Yeah, there’s that many multi-millionaires and billionaires now, that they’re pricing out millionaires. Their airport is just a private plane storage facility atp.

I don’t want to absolve what Trump voters did, I very much can’t stand them personally, bc as you said they’re willing to just cherry pick certain things he says and promises, and even straight up misinterpret them ( oh conservative christians are so so so good at this ). Promises he will likely not even keep, or be able to keep, at the expense of ignoring all of the truly fascistic shit he says on the daily, and lives he will ruin bc of it. But a buncha “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” ass ppl wanted a way to get themselves out of their own personal turmoil, and took the path of least resistance to do it, whilst selling out their most vulnerable neighbors in the process.

United States of America, my ass.

[beifong-brainrot]

I know your recent post abt Amon is meant to be silly but it reminded me of something that was so frustrating in the fandom. So many ppl missed that Amon is a demagogue, and he’s *meant to be* wrong about what divides the city. Amon talking about “bender privilege” obfuscates the real issue, in the same vein as Republicans in the U.S. attacking immigrants for ‘stealing our jobs’. If anything benders are poorer on average-it gives them more of an incentive to work shitty jobs like the lightning plant. Plus, having him be right about societal issues makes Korra defeating him nonsensical. Sorry to rant lol, I just still get mad that a large part of the fandom didn’t understand that “bender privilege” is made up and not a real issue for Korra to address (tbf many of these ppl did so bc they liked to pretend that Asami was worse off than Mako & Bolin)

No, I mean you're right? I think that the concept of the bender/nonbender divide certainly exists.

Like while we see trained nonbenders be able to go toe to toe with benders, between regular civilians benders will still have the upper hand. This is probably why so many triads seem exclusively focused around benders.

And benders are preferred as police officers, soldiers, etc. So if we're talking being able to push an issue by force, benders certainly have an advantage.

On the other hand, however...

I can see 'bending-based' jobs being paid pretty low since you could classify is as unskilled manual labour, I assume? Another reason is that bending is probably seen as a very much physical/combative skill and since benders have been mainly sought out by militaries, it could be so that benders are just seen as less likely candidates for "regular" jobs. Benders are also seemingly a minority in the world, which could perhaps actually lead to certain prejudices against them.

I really liked the idea of focusing on bending/nonbending relations, Amon's storyline just doesn't cut it? Like for all the talk of benders oppressing nonbenders and being "impure", the only examples we see of nonbenders being oppressed is a misguided response from Tarrlok, renown corrupt politician.

And I know that benders can oppress and cause harm to nonbenders, it was explored in "Imbalance", which I think handled the concept much better.

It does really feel like Amon is spewing empty words, especially that he posits himself under a false identity, presenting himself as a fellow nonbender and victim to benders.

Part of me wants to think Amon truly believed what he was saying, since being forced to learn an invasive form of bending like bloodbending at a young age could certainmy give him an aspect of self loathing.

But the more cynical part of me feels like he was just using a unique talent, charisma and manipulating a disgruntled majority into fearing and hating a minority. Tale as old as time.

Which is dissapointing, since Amon really was set up as a super interesting character with an intriguing mystery surrounding him and amazing presentation.

I have my own ideas and concepts for rewriting Amon's storyline but most of them would jive with established canon and go into the "tlok rewrite" folder in my brain lol.

And honestly, it seems like wealth is a big reason for the unrest in Republic City. Like what's up with the concerning amount of homeless orphans who probably end up working with triads to survive, like Mako, Bolin, Skoochy and probably countless more did.

And the wealthiest members of Republic City society seem to all be nonbenders. Varrick, Hiroshi and Asami, probably the cabbage corp guy too.All nonbenders. And I get it, just because one person from a demographic made it, doesn't mean that the demogramic is well off as a whole but would it kill them to show us a millionaire levitating a rock or something?

Also for some reason I was really annoyed with Hiroshi Sato's "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" story I wanted to punch him. He's obvs fire nation just let him bebefit from the wealth given to him by potential colonis ancestors. Republic City is super americanised so it would totally be on brand. Like they can't all be self made I'm calling bullshit.

[denimbex1986]

'To watch Ripley is to be hypnotized by its quiet, seductive beauty. Shot in crisp black and white with dizzying noir stylishness, the Netflix series draws viewers into the solitary and sad world of New York City grifter Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott), then pulls them along with him as his life is changed by an ultra-wealthy man’s request that Tom find his wayward son Dickie (Johnny Flynn), who is living a deliciously posh life on the Amalfi Coast of Italy, and persuade him to come home.

Creator/writer/director Steven Zaillian calibrates the finest of details to place us in Tom’s experience, with close-ups on Tom’s scuzzy bar of soap in his New York flat and lingering looks at Dickie’s expensive fountain pen, background sound effects subtly emphasizing a scurrying rat or a wafting aria. (I watched it with the English subtitles on, and it’s fun to see how many times the captions have to describe specific ambient sounds.) This approach distinguishes this adaptation from the sunny lushness of its most famous forebear, The Talented Mr. Ripley, the 1999 Anthony Minghella film starring Matt Damon and Jude Law.

In fact, this marks the sixth screen adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel and its four sequels. But it earns its existence in both its unique approach to the material and its ability, as a streaming series with eight luxurious hours of runtime, to live Tom’s life as it slowly morphs from a daily struggle to a sparkly glide through a blessed life of leisure. It uses some of this extra time to indulge an obsession with the Baroque painter Caravaggio—known for his skillful contrasting of light and dark, an artful reflection of the show’s themes as well as its film technique. (Vulture has a glorious breakdown of similarities between the show’s visuals and Caravaggio.) The series also has the advantage of centering the always-excellent Andrew Scott, who imbues the title character with both pathos and mystery, often taking viewers through an entire arc of changing emotions and motivations without uttering a word.

And Ripley takes on new significance in a social climate that is reckoning with enormous wealth disparities—and the realization that the bootstrap-powered American dream is more mythical than ever. It joins a barrage of television shows that skewer the rich for our entertainment, such as Succession, White Lotus, and Your Friends and Neighbors. Instead of poking holes in the dream, however, Ripley invites us to cheer for the psychopathic outsider as he attempts to steal the good life out from under the privileged. Here, the rich are not neurotic fools; they’re simply so blind to the scale of their good fortune that they can’t comprehend what someone like Tom might do to snatch it from them. It’s a story that’s both timeless, and perfect for 2025.

Where to Watch: Netflix.'