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”Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Do people energize you or drain you? Would you rather be at a party or a library?” Stop subscribing me to binaries. Social interaction is invigorating and makes my life better and I’m exhausted the whole time.

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Eliot Spencer: I work alone

Also Eliot Spencer:

Meet my Scottish buddy, Donnie. He'll do an Indian accent for our con, no questions asked.

Meet General Flores. I tried to kill him once, and then saved his life twice after that.

Meet Shelley. We used to assassinate terrorists together.

Meet my mentor, Toby. He taught me how to cook.

Meet Vance. We were in the service together doing covert government ops.

Meet Paul. He saved my life when we were in the military, and you already saw me almost cry when I thought he was dead.

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I watched Leverage for the first time way too young, and a lot of things went over my head. I just rewatched "The Future Job" from Leverage and something about this scene just hit me.

The way they broke down the mysticism around the predatory psychic for Parker feels so intentional both in character and out of character.

In character, they do not judge Parker for falling for the con. The team is supportive and kind as they explain how a cold read works to her. They break it down for her step by step. They never belittle her nor do they pry about her past. This approach makes sense for Parker as a charcter, and it's sweet to see her friends try to help her through a difficult moment this way.

And out of character, it's kind of like they are telling the audience "it's okay if you've fallen prey to this scam. We're living in hard times and this is exceedingly cruel even by our standards. You aren't stupid, you are human. Here's some tools to avoid being tricked like this in the future". I cannot tell you the number of times I've realized I was being manipulated because of how this scene stuck with me.

I love the writers of Leverage, but something about this episode always makes me feel like the writers truly cared for their audience. I'm not sure if this was intentional or if I'm reading into it. But damn I think about this scene a lot.

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I’m at a sociology conference and just attended a memorial for one of the giants of our field, and one of the panelists told this story…he was at a meeting with this guy, who he got his PhD under and had a long standing relationship with, and he was bemoaning the current state of the world, and he asked this old professor, “how can you be so optimistic? I can’t ever be anything but a pessimist.”

and the old professor said, “you little fucker, I’m going to make a statement and then I’m going to take you out to the parking lot and beat your ass. What good does your pessimism do?”

and that really struck me. not the least because I also knew this old professor and he very rarely swore, so I know this was something he was really worked up about. what good does your pessimism do? What GOOD does your pessimism DO. I’ll be thinking about that for awhile.

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I feel like there's a certain type of "ex-evangelical" progressive who obviously supports mandatory progressive causes like abortion access and LGBT rights, but then in practice supports them "so strongly" that they can't compromise on anything. And if that means that they can't vote for candidates who support those issues because they aren't "good enough" and those issues get set back, well... That's a trade-off they're willing to make!

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one of the most infuriating things about becoming an adult is when you realize that it actually is 10x easier to solve problems by making a phone call vs literally any other communication method

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Turns out the horsemen of the Apocalypse now prefer to go by Shareholder Profit, Private Equity, Corporate Personhood, and Workforce Optimization.

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I don't know who the fuck censored "hell" in that last image, but it sure as shit wasn't me. What is this, 3rd grade internet?

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Sophia, the Boston woman from 1875 who haunts a lamp I got at Brimfield: what is a stay at home girlfriend, if you please?

me: well, it's a woman who's financially supported by the man she's dating, and she lives with him and usually keeps house and cooks for him

her: and they're not married?

me: well, no; hence "girlfriend" rather than "wife." I know that may alarm y-

her: oh calm down I know about Kept Women. he has no legal tie to her, though? she has no sort of standing with him in the eyes of the law? only his word that he'll follow through?

me: yes

her: and remind me again- you don't have to be financially dependent on a man anymore, right? there are more than like three careers open to women that will let you support yourself at a decent level now? and society isn't pressuring you 24/7 to get married and stop working outside the home?

me: yes

her: so these women. CHOOSE to be dependent on a man. who could leave them at any moment without legal consequence. because they don't like their jobs. the jobs, while imperfect, that let them live on their own, answerable to no-one

me: yes

her: that had better be some absolutely amazing jewelry they can pawn off if he leaves them, then

me: it's usually not

her: THERE'S NOT EVEN SECURITY JEWELRY?!

me: oh by the way they blame feminism for "having to work"

her:

her: I became fully dependent on my in-laws who hated me, after my husband died two years into our marriage, because I was a 23-year-old orphan with no marketable skills in any avenue besides Running A Household and the only men left unmarried in my social circle were widowers thirty years my senior. I also couldn't establish lines of credit as a widow because the merchants said my husband dying so soon meant that I didn't have stable enough income. and that was entirely legal

me: yeah

her: I'm going to go slam some doors please do not bother me

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happy my mother said I could be anything I wanted but I chose to live monday

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Canon: Jason breaks into Wayne Manor when he feels like it

Batman Eternal #10

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just had a convo with my friend. she mentioned she doesnt like sake cause its sparkling.

“wait, sake is sparkling? what have i been drinking?” i said. because i also dont like sparkling stuff.

i look at the sake bottle ive been drinking from for fun events for the past year. its vinegar.

i’ve been drinking strawberry flavored vinegar.

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Once I spoke with a girl who told me a friend had invited her to a pool party, but she didn't want to go because the friend's mom had HIV.

I told her that this was a common concern, but HIV can't be transmitted by sharing a pool, and in fact HIV is such a weak virus that it can't even survive on a table for more than a few hours, and it can be killed entirely by bleach.

She asked me, "if you can kill HIV with bleach, why haven't we cured it yet?"

I told her, "because we can't put Bleach into people without killing them".

She said that this was interesting, but she still wasn't going to go.

(We did not become friends.)

The other day, I saw a group of teenage boys climbing all over an electrical box in town.

I walked over and asked if they were aware this was an electrocution risk.

One of them asked what I meant. I pointed to the large yellow image of a stick man with a lightning bolt through its chest and repeated, "it has an electrocution warning on it. Don't get blown up."

The kid laughed and said, "hey, play at your own risk, right?" And went back to his buddies.

I went back to what I was doing, but kept an eye out, and did notice that within the next five minutes, the whole group had removed themselves from the box and were now gathered several feet away from it.

I can't make people do things. I can inform, and support, but I cannot make their choices.

This is something that is hard to learn.

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blueprint of chaotic found family

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We don't need to watch "better" movies. We need to watch more movies where the lead is a solid 4/10 and can't act for shit, but, like, they're really good at karate.