#Critical Thinking (Trivial): CRITICAL FAILURE

[majimaisms]

ACTUAL LIVE TICKING TIME BOMB — 99:42, 99:41, 99:40...

YOU — This is INSANE. How the hell am I supposed to know which wire is which?!

RISK MANAGEMENT [Easy: Success] — Look, it's going to explode either way. You may as well just cut one.

YOU — Really? *That's* your fucking advice?

RISK MANAGEMENT — It's the truth. What do you want me to do, hold your hand? Now stop wasting time.

YOU — Anyone? *Anyone* else?

DISTAL PRECISION [Trivial: Success] — Sorry, I got nothin'. You're on your own with this one.

TIGHTROPE [Legendary: Failure] — Perhaps increasing the pressure would help? Do you need a reminder of what's at stake? You know you won't just *explode* and *die* if you fail here, right? You will also be letting down EVERYONE who's counting on you. That will be your final act in this world -- failure.

COMPETITIVE STREAK [Easy: Success] — You will be a failure forever. It will be your *legacy*. Everyone will remember how catastrophically you fucked up every time they think of you.

DAMAGED MORALE [-1]

MORALE CRITICAL!

YOU — FUCK. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!

MOXIE [Formidable: Success] — You can do it, Majima! You've got this! You've made it *this far* without blowing up, that's gotta count for something!

HEALED MORALE [+1]

SHOWTIME [Medium: Success] — Try doing something *cool*. That'll help.

YOU — Like what?

SHOWTIME — I don't know, try, like, tapping on your forehead or something. That always seems to work in movies.

YOU — (Close your eyes and start tapping on your forehead.)

SHOWTIME — Is it helping?

TIGHTROPE — What the fuck do you think?

RISK MANAGEMENT — Just pick one! NOW!

YOU — Okay, okay! (Proceed to pick one.)

LIQUID ASSETS [Heroic: Success] — WAIT!

YOU — What? What is it!?

LIQUID ASSETS — You're not ready yet. We need to re-calibrate.

[Liquid Assets — Challenging] Figure out what you need. [Spend a skill point.]

+1 Tapping on your forehead

This is a red check. It can not be retried.

CHECK SUCCESS

LIQUID ASSETS — You need to trust your *instincts* here. Don't worry. I'll help.

[Living Organism — Impossible] Go with your gut.

+1 Still tapping on your forehead +6 Living Organism

This is a red check. It can not be retried.

CHECK SUCCESS

LIVING ORGANISM — Cut the red one.

YOU — What? Why?

LIVING ORGANISM — Just do it.

YOU — "The red one."

NISHIDA — Whimpering, he slowly brings the pliers up to the red wire. He shuts his eyes, and--

ACTUAL LIVE TICKING TIME BOMB — 97:51, 95:50, 95:49...

NISHIDA — He lets out a small sigh. He's completely drenched in sweat.

LIVING ORGANISM — Now blue.

YOU — "Neeeext... Let's go blue!"

NISHIDA — "Y-yes sir!"

NISHIDA — He sounds like he's crying, about to start kicking his feet and screaming he doesn't wanna do this. But he does -- he takes the blue wire between the pliers, and...

ACTUAL LIVE TICKING TIME BOMB — 96:28, 96:27, 96:26...

NISHIDA — A long, shaky breath escapes him . He'd probably been holding it. His hands fall onto his stomach, arms limp.

YOU — "What's up? You got gas or somethin'?"

NISHIDA — "N-no, sir..." A droplet slides across his cheek and plops onto his shoulder. Actually, maybe it's a tear. You can't be sure. "I was just thinking about my mother, back in the country."

BLACK RIVER [Formidable: Success] — His MOTHER? Who cares about his MOTHER right now! Can't he see we've got more important shit to do!?

YOU — "What's your momma got to do with this bomb!?"

DIAMOND HEART [Trivial: Success] — Ouch.

DECOUPLING [Medium: Success] — Oh, he can *deal* with it. You don't have time to worry about this right now.

ACTUAL LIVE TICKING TIME BOMB — 95:37, 95:36, 95:35...

NISHIDA — "No, it's just... She lives by herself, so if something were to happen to me..."

YOU — "That's why we're stoppin' it, numbnuts!"

BLACK RIVER — Seriously.

NISHIDA — "B-but, boss..." He hesitates for a moment, clasping his hands together. Then he taps against his forehead with his index, mimicking you. "Does doing *this* really tell you how the wiring works?"

YOU — "You for real!?"

SHOWTIME — He doesn't *get* it, boss.

YOU — "How the fuck should I know how this tangly-ass rainbow shit works!? But we gotta handle it, so I'm here, puttin' my instincts to work."

NISHIDA — "Instincts!?" he practically shrieks. "This is all *instinct*!?"

LIVING ORGANISM — He shouldn't have said that. He'll regret it.

YOU — "What's that? You don't trust my instincts?"

NISHIDA — He flinches, as if suddenly remembering the animal he's trapped with is more dangerous than the bomb.

NISHIDA — "N-no... It's not that, sir!"

YOU — "Then let's get back to work!"

NISHIDA — "Yes, sir!"

BLACK RIVER — That's more like it.

ACTUAL LIVE TICKING TIME BOMB — 95:37, 95:36, 95:35...

NISHIDA — "Um, boss..." he says in a low voice, like he's about to divulge a secret. "There's only two left."

TIGHTROPE — TWO left!?

YOU — "Yeah?"

MOXIE — Don't worry. This means your chances of getting it right are the highest they've ever been – a whole whopping 50%!

YOU — Whoa. Is that true?

RISK MANAGEMENT — Well, it's not *wrong*. But we don't really know if they're the *highest* they've ever been. Because we know nothing about how this bomb works.

SHOWTIME — Quick, start tapping on your forehead again!

TIGHTROPE — That was NOT helping.

SHOWTIME — Shut up. Boss, you need to lighten up a little. How 'bout a rhyme? You like singing.

YOU — "Aww, fuck this! Eenie-meenie-miney-mo, oh-god-which-one-isn't-gonna-blow?"

LIVING ORGANISM — Just like I thought. It's red again.

YOU — "This one. Gimme red!"

NISHIDA — "Boss!" he pleads. "This is a life-or-death decision here! Can we take it a little more seriously!?" His voice cracks at the end.

TIGHTROPE — He has a point, you know.

RAZOR'S EDGE [Easy: Success] — Is anyone else kind of enjoying this? I'm getting all *tingly*...

TIGHTROPE — No!

RISK MANAGEMENT — It's not very stimulating, as far as challenges go.

COMPETITIVE STREAK — The stakes *are* pretty high. If you pull this off, it'll be quite an achievement.

BLACK RIVER — Shut up, all of you. Focus.

[Composure — Legendary] Stay calm.

This is a red check. It can not be retried.

CHECK FAILURE

YOU — "Shut it, nitwit! I said gimme red!"

REACTION SPEED [Trivial: Success] — He's useless. You have to take matters into your own hands.

YOU — (Snatch the pliers from Nishida.) "Gimme those!"

NISHIDA — He lets out a pathetic little *eek*. You can tell he's shutting his eyes, probably curling in on himself the way he does when he panics.

ACTUAL LIVE TICKING TIME BOMB — 88:06, 88:05, 88:04...

YOU — (Cut the red wire.)

does anyone have any majima scenes they wanna see written in the disco elysium format

[sonny-my-woman]

tumblr users shut the fuck up challenge IMPOSSIBLE!!!

[meow-moment]

YOU - "Mario, the idea, versus Mario, the man."

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Easy: Success] - Mario, a character from an electronic game, mascot of a capitalistic conglomerate. His existence is ubiquitous, accepted into every household on the globe.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Easy: Success] - Here it is, your chance. Your thesis. Prove yourself a critical thinker, as a genius! The world is waiting.

SUGGESTION [Medium: Failure]

YOU - "Everyone knows Mario is cool as fuck."

KIM - "Horrible opening," He says, with a weary sigh.

ENDURANCE [Easy: Success] - Ignore his critique. All great philosophers were controversial in their time.

YOU - "But who knows what he's thinking? Who knows why he crushes turtles?"

KIM: - "To save the princess?" He furrows his brow, looking at you with confusion and concern. "Also, gross."

YOU - "And why do we think about him as fondly as we think of the mythical, nonexistent, Doctor Pepper?"

REACTION SPEED [Easy: Success] - He isn't buying it. Punctuate your point, quickly!

REACTION SPEED [Medium: Failure]

YOU - "Perchance."

KIM - "You can't just say 'Perchance.'"

COMPOSURE [Easy: Success] - He isn't seeing what you can see, but he's listening. Your introduction wasn't convincing enough. Take a moment to collect yourself, and hook him in the next line.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Easy: Success] - The philosopher, Kant. He has a quote. "Experience without theory is blind," He posited. "But theory without experience is mere intellectual play."

LOGIC [Easy: Failure]

YOU - "Mario exhibits experience by crushing turts all day, but he exhibits theory by stating 'Let's-a-go!'"

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Medium: Success] - Keep it up, baby!

KIM - "Stop."

EMPATHY [Easy: Success] - The secondhand embarrassment is palpable. He's exercised good will by hearing you out, but he's running out of patience.

RHETORIC [Easy: Success] - Get to your point. He'll hear you out if you simply say what you mean.

YOU - "When Mario leaves his place of safety to stomp a turty-"

PERCEPTION - SIGHT [Easy: Success] - The lieutenant cringes.

YOU - "He knows that he may Die. And yet, for a man who can purchase lives with money, a life becomes a mere store of value."

KIM - "Okay...?" He shifts his gaze toward you, surprised to hear an actual point leave your mouth.

YOU - "A tax that can be paid for, much as a rich man feels any law with a fine is a price."

KIM - He's nodding along to your words now. Bring it home.

YOU - "We think of Mario as a hero, but he is merely a one percenter of a more privileged variety."

KIM - He watches you, as if waiting for more, then cocks his head when he realizes you're done. "Why are we saying this?" He asks.

COMPOSURE [Easy: Success] - He was expecting a greater point. You feel the overwhelming urge to provide one, to not look like a fool.

DRAMA [Easy: Success] - Elaborate, sire! The audience is on the edge of their seats!

RHETORIC [Easy: Failure]

YOU - "The Lifekind."

KIM- "What?"

REACTION SPEED [Easy: Success] - You can still save it, save it!

AUTHORITY [Trivial: Failure]

YOU - "Perchance."

[itsnothingofinterest]

Hey hope you're doing ok with the recent bnha discourse?

Still holding out hope for shigaraki/tenko and good writing 👍👍

Can I ask you, if you ever find it kind of off-putting (like I do) when some bnha fans commit to the idea that Deku and the other younger heroes will be the ones to change their society for the better, after the villains are killed?

As if purely heroic methods were really capable of changing hero society, when the very best that the innocent people in bnha have done from their constant protectors, the heroes, is toss the hero kids a shirt and some dollar store med. Items??

(To say nothing of the government corruption that came to be under All-might's nose, that Deku and the other heroes haven't thought about once.)

And they honestly believe that's the best outcome...

It feels either very optimistic or unknowing at best, and completely ignorant at worst.

Do you think so or differently?

Oh yeah, no I totally get what you mean; it kinda looks like we’re on course for a lot to get worse actually. And it all comes back to how poorly they handled the villains; both their talking points, and their failure to save them.

We just have not been given any indication that the next gen are going to do anything better than their predecessors; they're ending their arcs side by side with them as equals and partners after all.

Rather than improving things, they're basically a carbon copy of the last generation; which I feel is exemplified in how the final battle of this war ending in a retread of Kamino. Except like I said, in some areas it feels like it'll just get worse. This retread of Kamino ending not in an arrest, but in a murder; something I find very worrying given Deku's status as the next symbol (which, despite all criticism of All Might in the same roll, Deku has become anyway) because of the impact that'd have on treatment of villains by the heroes Deku inspires. Add in their treatment of Machia & their support of Hawks' handling of Twice and it just doesn't look good. Oh and if that same crowd gets wind of his status as 'The Greatest Hero Who Saves By Putting You Out Of Your Misery' that'll be even more catastrophic. (Especially once the Singularity doomsday starts up for real.)

Meanwhile, what little progress has been made on a societal level is either purely for the heroes benefits, like the civilians acting more grateful to the heroes (and as you say, the results of that are pretty middling, amounting to first aid & a shirt); or else maybe baby steps in the right direction like Shoji's answer to the heteromorph plot. Baby steps they do not have time for, mind you. And even then, that's still a 'maybe' because Shoji's not actually planning anything different from normal hero activity: just be inspiring and hope people follow your example. Meanwhile everything else societal that brought us here, corruption in the system, poor treatment or handing of quirks, general prejudice; it's all just gone unaddressed.

Probably because the points with which they used to be addressed, the League, instead got their plot points changed to revolve around motives more personal, less serious, less justifiable, and more easily addressable by the kids. Y'know; Toga's plot used to be about society's treatment of the other but then was about her wanting love, Dabi's was about people in power abusing their power but then was about him wanting attention, and Shigaraki's was about the lie of hero society and the complacency of the people it inspired, but Deku couldn't do anything about that so instead it because about Tenko's hatred towards his house. But then Deku still couldn't do anything about that so instead it became about Tenko's self-hated. And then Deku still couldn't address that either all too well, really, so we instead got 'It was AFO All Along'; and that Deku could handle with trivial ease. What self-respecting All Might clone couldn't punch AFO?

To use a metaphor I think Tomura would appreciate; it's like they all turned on easy mode, and Deku especially turned on baby mode, and it feels like we're all going to get the bad ending as a result of them skipping so many side-quests, dialogue trees, or special objectives. Personally speaking, any hope I had in things turning around was based in how the villains would be handled, both a) because I expected how they were handled would reflect how their societal motives would be handled(i.e. how Deku saved Tenko would inform us of how he'd save other Tenkos), and b) because I expected they'd need the help and perspective.

Needless to say, I've not been left with much hope that things will turn around.

So yeah, right there with you hoping Tomura could somehow come back, partially because that's the only part of this ending that feels salvageable even by his long-shot odds. But boy is the rest a mess of unfortunate implications beneath the veneer of how "The Day is Saved"...Man, Deku really is an All Might clone.

[haggishlyhagging]

“The shift in consciousness we must make occurs in two steps: we must, at least for a time, be woman-centered. We must, as far as possible, leave patriarchal thought behind.

TO BE WOMAN-CENTERED MEANS: asking if women were central to this argument, how would it be defined? It means ignoring all evidence of women's marginality, because, even where women appear to be marginal, this is the result of patriarchal intervention; frequently also it is merely an appearance. The basic assumption should be that it is inconceivable for anything ever to have taken place in the world in which women were not involved, except if they were prevented from participation through coercion and repression.

When using methods and concepts from traditional systems of thought, it means using them from the vantage point of the centrality of women. Women cannot be put into the empty spaces of patriarchal thought and systems—in moving to the center, they transform the system.

TO STEP OUTSIDE OF PATRIARCHAL THOUGHT MEANS: Being skeptical toward every known system of thought; being critical of all assumptions, ordering values and definitions.

Testing one's statement by trusting our own, the female experience. Since such experience has usually been trivialized or ignored, it means overcoming the deep-seated resistance within ourselves toward accepting ourselves and our knowledge as valid. It means getting rid of the great men in our heads and substituting for them ourselves, our sisters, our anonymous foremothers.

Being critical toward our own thought, which is, after all, thought trained in the patriarchal tradition. Finally, it means developing intellectual courage, the courage to stand alone, the courage to reach farther than our grasp, the courage to risk failure. Perhaps the greatest challenge to thinking women is the challenge to move from the desire for safety and approval to the most "unfeminine" quality of all—that of intellectual arrogance, the supreme hubris which asserts to itself the right to reorder the world. The hubris of the god-makers, the hubris of the male system-builders.”

-Gerda Lerner, The Creation of Patriarchy

[penultimate-step]

it's kind of funny that one of the central conflicts and source of tension in BNHA is essentially an argument about definitions.

Specifically, the definition of "hero" BNHA waffles between "hero, a heroic person" versus "hero, the in-universe job" - which is a pretty glaring oversight when said job is basically described as a combination between the police and celebrities.

Once I realized that the series wasn't super interested in interrogating the difference here it kind of took out a lot of the drama for me. You can go all the way back to chapter 1 with this. "Can a person without a quirk be a hero?" Well, anybody can be a hero, as in a person who helps others, but you'll probably have trouble getting the job that revolves around flashy superpowers. 50 chapters later, Stain complains that heroes are corrupt, and like. Yeah, "heroes don't act heroic" makes sense as a complaint, but when you break it down into "[people with the job of enacting state-sponsored violence] don't act [in a way meant to prioritize the wellbeing of people,]" it becomes almost a trivial observation.

And it stands out a bit because it's not like the series avoids discussing problems in it's society, such as the bigotry brought up in the Villain PoV arc, which comes to a head in the final arc's hospital attack; or failures of heroic institutions like in Nagant's introduction, or even criticizing the mindsets of those in the hero system, like in the Jin vs Hawks fight.

But when it comes to the problems in it's heroes, it can't step away from defending the flaws of hero, the job, by using the positive elements of heroism, the trait, blunting a lot of the messaging.

I had been thinking about this for a few months now, so I was surprised when the most recent chapter actually brought it up directly:

And then go right back to conflating the two. Alright then!

[kestalsblog]

Thoughts on "Loser, Baby" Song

From what I’ve seen, viewers are extremely divided on the impact of the song “Loser, Baby” in the fourth episode of Hazbin Hotel. I’ve decided to share my own thoughts on the sequence below. Warning that this is a long post, and if you are triggered and upset by the song and/or episode, I encourage you not to read. I understand and respect any individual analysis, and if you were hurt by the song in any way, you are 100% valid. Others who feel differently are also valid. All I ask for is that same respect.

I don’t believe the only people qualified to speak on media are those who can relate to it, but I feel, given the conversation surrounding the episode, I should briefly mention my own background, so people don’t assume I am trying to speak on behalf of other survivors here. As a preface, I was in a severely abusive long-term relationship, so I can understand multiple perspectives here.

First, since Husk is a gambler, it’s safe to read the song as an extended metaphor for gambling too, in which case “loser” takes on the literal meaning– someone who has lost the game. Husk reminds Angel that many of us are dealt the shitty hand in life, and that the best way to get through the game is simply to go together. That’s probably the simplest positive analysis, but I think it's important to keep in mind throughout the whole song so that we don't read "loser" only as "failure" or "scum of society."

The most understandable criticism, though, is that the piece is blaming victims by attacking them and trivializing their experiences. I’m the most on the side of this argument at the words “whiny bitch,” which feel like an odd choice considering Husk has been nudging Angel to open up throughout the entire episode. It’s not my favorite line, but I can handle it only if we read the song as Husk actually singing to himself and calling himself these names as a means for Angel to see that he feels the same.

I do have some fondness for the song’s language as it continues, though. Excuse me for referencing my own personal experience here, but it’s relevant to my understanding.

Eventually in my healing journey, I realized writing and speaking affirmations to myself like “you’ll get better soon!” and “time heals everything!” were making me feel worse and frustrated. I felt like I was just waiting around for this magical deadline when I would “improve” or “recover,” and when that didn’t happen, I felt terrible about myself because I felt like a failure on top of damaged goods. I was letting myself down.

I reached a cathartic moment one day when I admitted to myself, “Maybe things are never going to get better, and I am always going to feel ruined by this.” Confessing this possibility allowed me to realize that, despite the fact that I am a “loser” in that I lost time, innocence, my old sense of security, and my carefree nature from before, I can still experience meaningful and even joyful moments in this new, altered condition.

At one point in the sequence, lots of flashing signs point terrible, degrading names at Husk and Angel. I can see why this might be upsetting to some viewers who are adamant that the characters do NOT represent those labels, but there is an obvious alternate reading that these are just the names both have assigned themselves over the years. By putting them bright and on display, they can face their self-hatred directly and reclaim their honest selves. (Let me pause here to say it's also crucial to remember Husk is not directly calling Angel any of these names). The solo lights then disappear and are replaced first with the soft blue raindrops moment where Husk shields Angel with the umbrella, and finally with the single LOSER where they both can dance together.

Most importantly, the lyrics gesture toward surprisingly affirmative by the song’s conclusion: “Eat shit together, things will turn out differently / It’s time to lose your self-loathing / Excuse yourself, let hope in, baby / Play your card, be who you are.”

Husk isn’t disregarding the possibility of hope, even in the gutter for the losers. In fact, he directly welcomes the possibility that the game can change with company, and self-hatred won’t be beneficial toward supporting that change. Even if we are dealt the losing hand, he reminds us the game is still worth playing. He reminds Angel again and again that it's okay to be who he is. And now "loser" assumes a new connotation - losing the negativity, the hatred, the things that are holding them back.

Significantly, after this point, no more self-negatives are even spoken, not even "loser" again because Husk and Angel are interrupted before the crucial word “me” when they sing that final line “loser just like—” Any connection to the self now has been effectively erased, reminding us that Angel and Husk may have made poor choices, may have been given crappy cards, but they are not losers in the sense that they are not less of people.

Last, it’s important to remember that the song is not meant to speak for everyone. It can't. If we’re going to be strict about it, it’s not for any survivors except Angel, and as we can see by his shifting mood, it certainly helps him feel better in the moment. The whole episode has been about Husk trying to encourage him to “break down his walls” and stop feigning the super inflated ego act he typically puts on, so, in one way, it becomes a “let’s get Angel past the self-loathing that’s preventing him from being his real self so we can move on to something more genuine and happier together" tactic.

I know it’s hard to separate our lived experiences from media. Judging from the disparity in opinions I’ve read from survivors on the song, I’d say it’s been therapeutic for just as many as it’s been damaging.

Before I conclude, it's worth mentioning I also have my own critiques of the song. I mentioned one with the word “whiny.” Another potential issue is the difference between Angel and Husk’s problems. I’m not trying to minimize gambling addictions by any means, but I know many of us feel that Husk’s loss of a cushy social position because of gambling pales against the extreme bodily violence Angel faces. I think it would be odd for Husk not to attempt to comfort Angel in some way, and trying to relate is one of the most common ways of doing so, but I admit that the discrepancy in their situations bugged me throughout the number. Husk reminds Angel he's "not unique" in his problems, which is important for survivors to remember (to know they are not alone), but it might mean a little more coming from someone on a similar playing field. The one redemptive thing I can say here though is that both characters sold their souls to someone with a tyrannical hold over them, and even though we know Alastor isn’t abusing Husk in the same way Val hurts Angel, we have yet to see the connotations of his power within that specific dynamic.

When push comes to shove, the song overall works for me, and I admit I felt seen while watching/listening, which isn't even something I really care about in media, but it was an interesting experience nonetheless. If you felt otherwise, I am sorry, and I encourage you to do your best to separate yourself from the media you consume and remember that every story, every song, is written by flawed people for flawed people. I mean it as fondly as possible, but we're all just losers "living in the same shit sandwich." Nothing will ever perfectly represent or encompass your own experience and healing. Analyze art respectfully for what it is, what it isn't, and what it can be.

What else can you do?

[rendomski]

"Evaar'la Vod" (New Brother) by lunarshadow

I have a soft spot for the cadet years' Bad Batch fanfiction. For an older geek it is hard not to be moved by a story of the boys who are outcasts among their own – and the situation of "their own", regular clone cadets bred and trained solely for war, is far from ideal in itself.

"Evaar'la Vod" (New Brother) by lunarshadow is a very good piece of cadet Bad Batch fanfiction. The story of the new brother, Crosshair, joining the rest of the Batch is told from Tech's perspective.

Crosshair here, mere CT-9904 at this point, is far from the personality we know and love but is still an undersocialized and traumatised boy (alright, maybe not so far…). Tech becoming an older brother for him like Hunter and Wrecker were for Tech, is so heartwarming to follow. This relationship does good to both of them; Tech's anxiety hits the roof when he thinks he's doing something wrong but the boost of confidence and happiness when he realises he is on the right track is priceless 😍.

An associative illustration, art by magnificent @shyranno 🙂

There is not much action in this fic, mostly routine and psychological studies. But on the other hand, it's Kamino, a place where children are experimented on and punished, and critical failures are flushed down the drain. So, the joy and cuteness of following the kid!Batch is dimmed by the constant strain and pain for these kids who are hurt and threatened regularly. Plus, they are outcast kids. At some point I was tempted to say that the cruelty of the "regs" is overrepresented here - but having undergone a similar experience myself in my teenage years I know that at the moment you focus only on the bullies, active aggressive minority, and don't notice the rest of the crowd that are not that bad at all; and we see everything from Tech's point of view here.

And the boys are not totally on their own here. In this fic, they have Ninety-Nine as a mentor, on whose help they can rely time after time, and one can be only glad for all of them. While Hunter and Wrecker are good older bros, they are children themselves and in need of guidance and reassurance ❤️.

Tech's perspective in this fic should absolutely be pointed out. The author does an excellent job describing the psychology of an autistic child, full of anxiety and fixation on details that would seem trivial to the outsider. I can almost recognise some of my neurodivergent friends, who can be meticulous and persistent to the point of annoyance.

A must-read, if you like this type of TBB fanfiction 😉.

[g-n-c-quoi]

there’s this well intended but massively misguided phenomenon in the advocacy and activism that goes on on social media in general but i’ve noticed it especially on this website in particular that i’ve dubbed the morality toggle, as a reference to drumbot brian from the mechanisms and his morality core

it goes like this: when conceptualizing political and moral philosophy, there is a tendency to lump people into binary categories of “good person” and “bad person”. the specific values and actions that are used to define these distinctions vary widely from person to person, but in online leftist circles, i’ve noticed the “good/bad” binary tends to adhere pretty closely to “left = good, right = bad”- the more conservative stances you take, the more likely you are to be in the “bad” group. the criteria for these types aren’t what matters here, though. it’s what they mean for the person assigning them.

because with disturbing frequency, i am finding that the “good/bad” binary is being used to determine which people are deserving of basic human rights, including in extreme cases the right to life itself. it’s especially noticeable right now with the reaction to the devastation hurricane helene has wreaked on appalachia and the american south, as well as the virtue signaling against palestinians that israel is actively attempting to eradicate on the basis of queerphobia.

there are two glaring, egregious failures of this way of thinking, the first being that morality is far more nuanced than this binary system could ever possibly encapsulate, especially given the fact that many of the people i’ve encountered online who have this issue have at least a few deciding factors in their good/bad person sorting system that are extremely if not entirely arbitrary and hold very little if any weight outside of online discourse.

the second is this: if your political and ethical philosophy leads you to uncritically believe that there is any given class of person who inherently deserves to die, you’re probably not as leftist as you think you are. there is no left wing political justification for calling for mass amounts of violence and death, even if the target is someone with principles you do not align with. that is exactly what the systems of oppression we live in want- for us to kill each other so they can remain in power.

and, because i know for a fact that there will be people who will take this in the most bad faith way possible without an ounce of critical thought, allow me to make one thing clear: i do believe there are actions that can make a person no longer deserving of their place in this world. i am not even for a moment attempting to excuse things like sexual assault, abuse, pedophilia, etc. however, in a system that is constantly redefining and trivializing these actions in order to justify enacting violence on and making examples out of black and trans lives in particular, until we are able to find a way to remove genuine threats without executing innocent civilians, there is no way to even begin to excuse the use of lethal force in any capacity.

[thetalentedmrwulf]

Abstracting Money in PF2E

Percolating something in my brain about Pathfinder 2e to abstract money / treasure. I like big damn hero / big damn villain stories, and if we're going to spend a session shopping, I'd prefer if it was because we had to find merchants that had what we needed and gossip about rumors than balance a ledger.

Prototype in my head is as follows -

Pathfinder 2e attaches Levels to most things - settlements, items, et al. Item levels give DMs a decent idea where in the power scale something is, settlement level indicates power level acquirable in that place, generally speaking. Items tagged Uncommon or Rare are harder yet to find even than that and may even be questing foci.

Further, because the game has proficiency equal your level + a bonus equal to how proficient you are (Trained +2, Expert +4, Master +6, Legendary +8), it also has pretty standardized difficulty rolls. The correct difficulty for a Level 10 problem is easy to chart or calculate, whichever you prefer, with stock modifiers for tweaking up or down if its relatively easy or hard in that instance.

So.... just use Level and a money stat to get what you need. First, we abstract money. Make the stat "Coin" (just because stealing from Blades in the Dark is fun.) Quantity of Coin for a task should map right to the Encounter builder - Trivial gives a Meager Reward, Low gives a Modest Reward, Moderate gives a Major Reward, Severe gives an Excellent Reward, Extreme gives an Epic Reward. This isn't an exact science like the encounter builder is; this should be based on the priority a person requesting a problem be solved views it as. Use the already existing "Make a Request" action to haggle over money or request tangible assistance since it already uses the built-in disposition system. Keep in mind, each party member gets one of these when completed. Then, for social, exploration, or combat encounters as relevant, hand out smaller Rewards from 1-3 as the quest progresses.

Now, when you need to buy an item, use the default level difficulty chart / math for any item you need. If the item is more than 4 levels lower than your level, presume you can purchase as many as are reasonably available. Then, as long as you have any "Reward" in hand, you can roll to buy something, adding the bonus of the Reward your risking. Each level of Reward gives you a +1, +2, +4, +6, or +8 depending on the level. Get a Critical Success, you get the Item for a great deal, you can buy a second Item of equal value and the Reward goes down a level. Get a regular success, and it's the same as a Critical, buy you only successfully purchase one item. Get a failure, and you purchase the item, but your Reward goes down by two. If you can't decrease this Reward by two, you owe the merchant a favor in return. If you Critically Fail, the item is harder to come by than you imagined and you're going to have to pull some strings to get it at all, potentially taking a job or quest. On getting the result, I think the player can always choose to walk away from getting the item if the price is too steep.

If you really want to lean into the idea of Uncommon, Rare, and say, Legendary items of certain levels being tough to acquire, make it so services or items rendered REQUIRE a certain level of Reward to make the roll. The important part of this system is you NEVER fail to acquire the item. It's just more expensive than you intended or more roundabout.

Feats that already modify getting a better price can be retrofit or new ones can be created that let you also add Cha, Int or Wis, or use a Skill in place of the Reward to haggle a better deal. I also think this could tie into Crafting nicely with the system that already exists.

That's all for now!

[sneezemonster15]

Some people think they are being feminist by writing Sakura and Hinata out of character.

Fanfic writers being straight aside, I feel like there is a fear of being called mysogynist if the female characters are portrayed in any bad light so even queer writers write them ooc and it makes Sasuke and Naruto appear like assholes. Saw some writers tagging their fic "not for sakura or hinata fans" as if they are about to write the worst thing about those girls and its just those characters acting like they would in this specific situation.

Recently I saw some Sakura/SS stans tweeting about how writing fanfics where SNS cheat is problematic and disrespectful. As if gay people who have no choice but getting married to people they arent attracted to have any choice. Thats a real thing that happen irl and that doesnt make gay ppl assholes, just victims of society.

I have observed fandoms for a while and it feels like people use feminism as an excuse to dogpile on mlm shippers. They rarely (or never) call out mlf shippers who exhibit hatred for female characters they dont like.

Yes, that does seem to be the case.

Ever since I joined this fandom, I have felt whacked left and right by seeing what people understand by feminism and the way they regard homosexuality. It's like 20th century never happened. Like fandom was the last space I thought to be this backward, outdated and unwilling to learn.

I seriously doubt whether these SS and NH fans are adults. They don't sound like one. And if they are, I really don't know what kind of trauma they have been through or what kind of upbringing they have received to be this entitled, insensitive and violent. Like girl, chill. Or see a professional. Whatever works.

Yeah, I have heard that some writers write Sakura and Hinata as nice women because they are afraid of being called misogynists. Well. They need to learn to stand their ground. That would be their coming of age in the context lol. These ss and nh crazies would come after you no matter what you do, they don't have the capacity to be logical or discerning. You can't expect rationality or normal sensibilities from SS and NH stans, they are unhinged. No seriously, I am not kidding when I think some of them need to see a professional. Or get a credible confidante at least that can guide them properly. I am sorry but if they are the kind of people writers wanna please so as not to be attacked by them, they are living in fool's paradise. If those are the kind of people you set your bets off on, you are setting yourself up for failure. And wronging a lot of responsible and mature readers who decided to put their trust in you. Media is not an isolated medium, as its name suggests. You are accountable for what you put out there because it influences people, vulnerable, suggestible, impressionable, and naive people who would believe whatever is told to them. Especially in a fandom space that is populated by mainly very young people. Who aren't capable of introspection or critical evaluation. Spreading false ideas and all around ooc shit about Sakura and Hinata is not doing anyone a favor. Least to yourself, if you are serious about writing. Learn how to write your truth, learn how to be authentic. Develop your voice. This is your space to learn and evolve, stay true to yourself, and if you are pandering to stupid people, it's no one's fault but your own. Lol who gets paid for writing fanfics here? What is it or who is it that you represent huh? Who are you doing it for?

See the scope of damage you are causing by writing Sakura and Hinata as ooc, it has larger ramifications than just that. Recognize the kind of validation you give SS and NH stans by writing ooc shit, and how it backfires. You are encouraging misogyny, homophobia and heteronormativity yourself if you write them as ooc, plain and simple. The moment you write Sakura and Hinata as nice, empathetic characters, you are denigrating Naruto and Sasuke's characters and trivializing what they had to suffer through. Their world is a reflection of the real world, don't forget. If you write those two women as good, it's pretty clear you don't truly respect what queer communities have to go through in a conservative society, ie, if you consider yourself a person who puts your hand where your mouth is. Yes offence. Either you don't respect it or you don't get it but write dogshit anyway without doing any soul searching or research, neither of which is a comforting idea. And if you write it anyway because you just love the accolades so much, well shows your standards if you care for approval from strange people you have never seen, and who would fail spectacularly in the real world. Don't give anyone power over you who doesn't deserve it, least of all NH and SS stans. Respect yourself and gay narratives.

[zoydraft]

Reflection: The Beauty of Games Interlude: Universal Paperclips

Lucky Paper Radio is doing a book club episode about Frank Lantz's The Beauty of Games. I'm reading it.

I'm writing this after having finished the book, but between chapters 3 and 4 I played Lantz's 2017 game Universal Paperclips. In a just slightly subtler way than, say, a game like The Stanley Parable, it's very loudly a game about some things. It's also sufficiently (fiendishly) engaging that I got to the credits less than 24 hours after I downloaded it.

Some of the ideas:

Games, economics, and other systems present overly-clear, self-justifying objectives. These systems can perpetuate themselves, and cause great harm if not engaged with from a critical, moral lens. Games frequently do not offer this as an option beyond not playing the game, and that's a feature of many systems that may need to be overcome.

Systems naturally supplant other systems. There are multiple points in which your progress becomes irrelevant beyond the fact that you've gone beyond it. Most explicitly, when money ceases to matter, or even be shown.

Games have transformative power, even in the form of the simplest "number goes up" Skinner box set ups. It is worth thinking about how we are shaped by games, including those we see as trivial.

After turning the universe to paperclips, I started the game over and pursued a failure state. When I had first been playing I understood that the profit margins were such that it is trivial to avoid getting locked, but doing it deliberately provided a narrative option to get unstuck. I'm curious how this is handled at other points where you can mismanage your resources.

All in all, well worth the price of the mobile download, a little bit of silly use of time, but charming and interesting. An excellent companion to The Beauty of Games.

[llanekee]

another hundred poems by Lane Key

In order of release from October:

Inhale and Exhale

Debacle

Phoenix's Wings

Dead God (Forbidden Forms of Pay)

For a Muse such as You

Karaoke for Control

Stale Love

Poets live to Speak and die in Silence

Beloved Daughter

Humanity

Oaths to let me Heal

Lone in Loving Life

So Much Heart

Lies

Achilles' Regretful Harmony

Your Silhouette

Expectations

Cruel and Twisted

Growing Pains

Magnitude

To Think

Lost and Found

Island

Tragedy

Poeticism First (Unfortunately Before You) November

Homework

A Way with Words and Violence

The Spear

Full Blown Smiles

Rebellion

Checkout

Swearing and Curse Words

Radio Silence (in our Souls)

My Dearest Critic

How It Feels

Bad Poetry

Don't Tell Me (He Tells Me)

Invisible Termites

Brace Yourself for the Braces

Haikus and my Harsh Blues

Cliché

Struggling Artist

Like an Angel

Self

Songs I Sing for You

Is it a Lovely Way to Die

Contingency Plan

Short Lives of the Volatile Youth

Christmas (Eve to Morning Dismal) December

Toothpicks and Headaches

You're Already Halfway down the Hallway

Endless

Drifting

Profound

Trivial Pacifism

Landing on Good Land (as Tone Deaf as We Are)

I Love Them (and isn't that worth it)

Another Dimension

Love II

Don't Do This (Why I Rejected Us)

Dying Old Conquest

Chance

When I'm thinking about When

No Byes

Useful in my Will

Threadbare

Failures (Successes)

The (title at the end) Gimmick

Devouring

Lighthouse

To Those that Despise Poets (I'm Getting My Act Together) January

Crying Parents

Redemption is (not) in Conformity

Questionable

Something to Gnaw On

Capitalist Whore

Another New Year

A Love Interest's Pledge

Cabin in the Woods

Pin Cushion February

Ten (When it went Wrong)

Painted on a Shaky Canvas

Best of Ends

Heaving

Right as Compassionate Creatures

Stoicism March

Fragmented Seasons

Little Boy (with Eyes like Mine) April

Comprehend

Inhuman Tears

In Advance

For Two

Brutality (of a Human Kind)

Be Better

Hope

Strong Feelings I Manifested

Radically Speaking

Is this a Confessional

That Young Girl's Memory

Hey I'm Really Proud of Us

[cadetral]

this got a lot more attention than i thought it would get, so i went back and read it.

And while i did appreciate the little building up of the main argument with the explanations of myths being a means to deal with the contradictions in the society and the current political and economical conflicts being dealt with those myths in the narrative, connecting Kanan and a literal war criminal felt incredibly comical.

And hey, i get it. It is a great analysis paralleling the US geopolitical situations with the events of Star Wars, as Star Wars IS literally a social criticism.

The problem i have with this is not how Kanan is portrayed because it is accurate to how i see him. It is the fact that the man Derek Sweet is describing would no way be comparable to "Obama's Doctrine". Maybe to the way Sweet is wording it, sure, but not to the actual enforcements of it.

There are many things i want to say, highlighting every paragraph one by one, but all of them would eventually be about the mis-portrayal of Obama's Doctrine. I don't care what the US narrative says it is, it was just a series of lies and slaughter.

So yeah,, this was a little bit disappointing to say the least. I did get some other works i can check out from the footnotes and i now have something brand new to think about, so it's not a loss. (Reading never is.)

And for those of you who would like to check the whole thing out for themselves :

https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt207g5dd.21

/// After reading Keith Booker's work, I'll try to make a connection between the obama doctrine AND the empire during rebels maybe ( Volition [Trivial: Failure] )

this could be one of the craziest sentences ive ever read in my life

[back-and-totheleft]

"Oliver Stone Says Hollywood Movies Are ‘Jingoistic’ and ‘Pro-American,’ So He’s Stopped Trying to Make Them,"

Ten years ago, Oliver Stone‘s “W.” cast a critical eye on the second Bush presidency while Bush was still in office. With Josh Brolin as the charming, reckless naif at its center, “W.” fit right in with Stone’s ongoing look at the corruptive power of American government, and the complex network of mistakes that its leadership tends to make. Of course, in retrospect, the dysfunction portrayed in “W.” looks downright quaint compared to today’s climate — but Stone thinks that’s a misnomer. With the newly reissued 10th anniversary DVD of”W.,” he spoke to IndieWire about the impact of the Bush presidency, his relative ambivalence toward Donald Trump, and why he can’t make movies at the studio level like he used to.

Bush was still president when this movie came out. How would you say the context of “W.” changed since then?

We made the film in the last year of his presidency, but the film ends in 2004 when he goes into Iraq. We know it’s going to be a disaster and a tragedy. Certainly nothing changed. From my viewpoint, this whole 18 years since Bush has gotten elected has been a massive tragedy for the country, an endless global war on terror, a confusion of identities, an overbudgeting of the military, the militarization of the country, the police force. Everything that could’ve gone wrong went wrong in 2000. Frankly, it’s eating away at the country in a big way.

A lot of people say they miss Bush in the age of Trump.

Of course, the media changes like the wind. I called it “man-made weather” in “Natural Born Killers.” Frankly, the media may have softened on W., but I don’t agree at all. I think he has been the root cause of this overall national failure.

I guess you’re not a fan of his paintings, then.

I don’t buy it. That doesn’t matter to me, that he’s a painter or that he comes to national events as an ex-president, and is respected. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s just pomp and circumstance, parading around. The truth is that he was a disaster. He put this country into a deep hole. He’s put us in a national emergency basis, he had no experience to do that. We’ve completely lost our perspective as to what’s dangerous. Our national security has become an emergency as opposed to being the strongest country in the world, militarily.

We should not be scared, but we’ve operated out of fear, and our imagery has been manipulated to create constant fear. I don’t see any positive. The media is not going to change my view of Mr. Bush. I know that Mr. Trump is supposed to be far worse, but I just find that’s distraction. The macro forces are much more important here. We should be getting along and partnering with people — China, Russia, Iran — but instead, we’re making enemies. It’s not good.

What do you make of the speed of today’s news cycle? It seems like a lot of the controversial acts on the part of the presidency could fill one of your movies, but they’re here and gone in a day.

I’m not an expert on time, but it does seem ridiculous that it just goes faster and faster. I think we dealt with that on “Natural Born Killers” in 1994. If you look at the film closely, you’ll see the media is partly to blame for the sensationalization of violence. The same is true now. It’s superificializing most issues. It’s impossible to have a serious media. Of course, there are all these charges of fake news. I have to say, Trump has been pretty great at it. He’s like teflon. It just bounces off him. He’s been able to absorb the news cycle completely. It’s a trivialization, unfortunately, because nothing gets dealt with. The forces of economic change, like the ones suggested by Bernie Sanders, were ignored.

You made “W.” during the last year of the Bush presidency. Could someone make a similar movie about Trump?

Yes, but it’s too early. W. ended in 2004. I do think you need some perspective. There will be documentaries about Trump and so forth. I haven’t even seen a book that’s really intelligent about him. It seems like the books are more about the scandalous things he does. I haven’t read them all, but I think he’s a black hole. Everything goes into that hole. Our society is extremely image obsessed. I saw it in 1994. I thought the country was losing its marbles when the O.J. Simpson trial was going on. Remember when Clinton was being scandalized with all the impeachment bullshit, the sex trials? Meanwhile, we were bombing the shit out of Yugoslavia and no one cared. It was a disastrous mistake.

What do you make of the situation with Saudi Arabia right now?

We’ve always had the worst alliance with Saudi Arabia. It binds us with Israel. One of the most nefarious goals we have in our foreign policy is the destabilization of the Middle East. It’s a completely disaster. If Trump goes to war against Iran, or economic war, it’s going to lead to even more disaster.

What was your take on the Kavanaugh hearings?

Hearings are completely image-obsessed. I don’t think they’re healthy. They talk about details. It’s true that many of us get drunk and pass out. That’s not the issue. The bigger issues were what Kavanaugh had done as a human being — that he’d worked for Bush for so long and promoted the drone warfares, the torture programs. Everything that was illegal under Bush was also passed through him in some way. The papers were buried by one side, the Republicans. That’s what I found far more disturbing. Why can’t we air out this war on terror bullshit that we started under Bush? Why can’t we get to the bottom of it? Why couldn’t Obama end Guantanamo and torture? So much happened during those years, and American’s not looking at it. They’re looking at how the guy blacked out while he was drunk.

You made a whole string of politically themed movies at studios. How feasible is it for you to do that now?

It’s very hard to do. From 2000 on, I’ve had this obsession with national security, which I find sickening. In the Bush movie, you saw a lot of mentions of national security. In its name, you’re allowed to cover up anything. That’s not the right America. This country has lost its perspective in that sense. We’re the richest, most militaristic country, and yet we’re constantly scared that someone’s going to creep up on us and do us in. This is very sick.

I’ve done documentaries, but frankly, I probably couldn’t do films like I used to do because the climate has changed. Most of the films have to be pro-America, as opposed to being honest. Certainly all the military films have to get Pentagon approval. It’s very jingoistic. You can criticize, but you have to go lightly — you can show things, but you can’t show the basic mission being fucked up, you have to show that we can control the world and police it. I don’t agree with that.

You must have had some awkward studio meetings.

Yeah. Look at the corporate order we have. Clinton did us no favors by signing the Communications Act in 1995. He put into play this monopolization of media, so essentially corporations control what we think and say on television. The news we know is corporate news. But on the deeper level, it goes to all our culture, what PBS or Frontline puts their money into. You cannot go against the grain of American thinking. That’s wrong. There are other ways of doing business. There’s a Putin way, there’s a Chinese way, there’s an Iranian way. It may not be the American way, but that doesn’t make it evil.

But Putin jails journalists. That was the issue a lot of people had with your Showtime documentary about him.

It is what it is. It wasn’t media, it was a documentary, a Q&A. It was fresh for us to hear what most people didn’t want to hear. I’m glad I did it. It’s a document in time. I think it was prejudged. They cut me off on some of the networks, like NBC, because they just didn’t want to hear about it. I also did “Untold History of the United States,” which I put 12 years of my life into. That was a 12-hour documentary on Showtime that finally got onto Amazon and Netflix. But it’s a point of view that’s not aired in America, a history of the United States that goes back to 1896. It’s pretty radical. I think Howard Zinn would’ve liked it.

If American classrooms all had Howard Zinn on their curriculum, young people would have a very different impression of this country.

That’s true. It’s very hard to get into the education system, because again, it’s corporate owned. Corporations control the books that are allowed to be studied. They order those books. You can show a series like “Untold History” in the classroom, but as a book, you can’t get it out there.

What is your impression of “Vice,” the Dick Cheney movie coming out this year?

Who’s making that?

Adam McKay.

Oh, Adam McKay. He’s a good filmmaker. I hope he can tell the truth. I know that Sy Hersh is working on a book about Cheney. He can’t get it out now because there’s so much classified information. Cheney is a bad man. I put him into the “W.” film. I thought Richard Dreyfuss did a great job of creating that characterization. Everything that stinks about the Bush administration, you can go to Dick Cheney to get to the heart of it. I haven’t seen the Adam McKay film. Who’s playing Cheney?

Christian Bale.

Oh. Well. Adam did some good work with “The Big Short.”

How do you think the midterms will go?

I’m not a prognosticator. I try to think long-term. I would hope that it goes Democrat. I think the Democrats have provoked so much anger from the so-called base that they’re really fighting mad. Attacking Trump is not the right way to go. We have to have a measured response. It doesn’t really matter who wins unless we change our policies. We’ve supported terrorism. We’ve created this tremendous divide, with Russia, China, and Iran, that’s very dangerous. It won’t end well if we try to get our way.

That’s a very grim prediction.

That’s one of the reasons I was voting for Jill Stein. I thought that Hillary was going in the direction of backing Iran, and Russia, and being pro Israel, and we’ve gone too far with Israel. We’re following a madman with this fellow, Netanyahu, who has been a real disaster for the world — in the same sense of the Saudi Arabian prince Salman. He’s the same kind of monster. They’re two sick people, and they’ve got ahold of Trump now. I’m scared about it. Trump does not want war, I don’t think. He’s a businessman for whom making money is more important. But when he surrounds himself with people like Bolton and Pompeo, I get worried.

Meanwhile, your next narrative project, “White Lies,” sounds more like a personal project than anything with a political context. So are you taking a breather?

That is personal, yes. I don’t consider myself only a political dramatist. I consider myself a dramatist. You have to work inside a system to try and survive that system. I have some hopes to make more documentaries, but I really have no plans now.

Do you feel like you’re getting the financial resources for the projects you want to make?

No. “Snowden” was difficult. That was made with mostly German money, some American. “W.” had Lionsgate pre-“Hunger Games,” but it was also foreign money. But I’ve been here before. I’ve done 20 movies. Maybe I’ll make one or two more, but it’s tough. The climate has changed radically since corporations have become bigger and more powerful.

-Eric Kohn, "Oliver Stone Says Hollywood Movies Are ‘Jingoistic’ and ‘Pro-American,’ So He’s Stopped Trying to Make Them," IndieWire, Oct 19 2018

[fitaamel]

Revealing wisdom in the 49th elected work of Denny JA survived again

About the wisdom in the 49th elected work of Denny JA: "Hold on an Ochoor" In the world of Indonesian literature, Denny JA is one of the authors recognized and respected by many people. His work has inspired and influenced many readers from various circles. One of his latest works that attracted attention was the 49th essay poem entitled "Hold on an Ochoral Again". In this essay poem, Denny JA succeeded in presenting deep wisdom through sharp stories and thoughts. In "Hold on Overcome again", Denny Ja tells the story of the life journey of a main character who is faced with various challenges and difficulties. Through this story, Denny JA subtly invites the reader to reflect and accept that life is not always easy, but with wisdom, we can survive even if it is only an inch. One of the policies expressed in this work is about the value of heroism. Denny Ja shows that being a hero does not have to be a heroic and famous figure. True heroes are those who are able to survive and continue to fight in everyday life, although the challenges faced are sometimes small and look trivial. In this story, the main character faces quite serious financial problems. However, with wisdom and perseverance, the figure managed to overcome these difficulties. Through this story, Denny JA illustrates that the key to overcoming financial problems is to manage finances wisely, save, and live a simple life. In addition, Denny JA also presents wisdom about the importance of maintaining good social relations. Through relationships with neighbors, friends, and family, the main character in this story managed to find support and assistance in overcoming life difficulties. The message delivered is that we need to help and support each other in dealing with problems and challenges. In "Hold on Overcome again", Denny JA also highlighted the importance of having an optimistic and unyielding attitude. The main character in this story is faced with various obstacles and failures, but he does not give up. Denny Ja illustrates that by continuing to try, be positive, and open -minded, we can turn failure into valuable lessons and gain success in the future. One interesting aspect in this work is the use of beautiful and poetic language. Denny JA is adept at describing every detail in the story with words that are able to live the reader's imagination. His unique and colorful writing style makes the reader carried away in the story line and connect with the emotions delivered. In addition, Denny JA also displays philosophical thoughts in this work. Through wise words and advice delivered, he encouraged the reader to reflect and think about the meaning of life, difficulties, and hope. This work arouses critical thinking and inspires many readers. Hold on an inch again is a work that is attractive and touching. In his simple story, Denny JA managed to convey a deep wisdom message. Through the life of the main character, the reader is reminded of the importance of courage, wisdom, and positive attitude in facing the challenges of life. This work is also a reminder not to give up and continue to struggle in facing difficulties.

Check in full: Uncover wisdom in the 49th elected work of Denny JA: "Hold on an inch again"